


And Secrecy, the Human Dress

by Lisa_Lisa



Series: Blood is Thicker than Water [2]
Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: (Power)Bottom V (Devil May Cry), Alternate Universe - Canon, Angst, Banter, Blow Jobs, Canon Compliant, Dante will have a Happy Ending with Vergil and Nero in a Third Part, Domestic Fluff, Drama, Dry Humping, Emotional Roller Coaster, Established Relationship, Eventual Smut, Fights, Fingerfucking, Getting Back Together, Griffon is the MVP for dealing with V's emotional constipation, Happy Ending, Incest, Kissing, Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Making Out, Mutual Masturbation, One chapter/One game mission, POV Alternating, Parent/Child Incest, Possesive V, Possessive Behavior, Resolved Sexual Tension, Riding, Romance, Rough Sex, Secrets, Sex, Sexual Tension, Smut, Spooning, Teasing, Temporarily Unrequited Love, Top Nero (Devil May Cry), Topping from the Bottom, Trust, Trust Issues, V is Part of Vergil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:41:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 25
Words: 101,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23247931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lisa_Lisa/pseuds/Lisa_Lisa
Summary: The whole month Nero and V spent travelling together allowed them to grow gradually closer, and culminated with them becoming lovers. However, there are still many mysteries surrounding V, in particular his fated ties with Vergil, which the invoker wants to keep from Nero at any cost.In a race against the clock, they both embark on a last mission to defeat Urizen before it’s too late. A task which won’t be easy, and much less when V begins to degrade.Note: It can be read as a standalone.
Relationships: (minor one-sided for now), Dante & Nero (Devil May Cry), Dante & Trish (Devil May Cry), Dante & V (Devil May Cry), Dante & Vergil (Devil May Cry), Dante/V (Devil May Cry), Dante/Vergil (Devil May Cry), Nero/V (Devil May Cry), Nero/Vergil (Devil May Cry)
Series: Blood is Thicker than Water [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1470086
Comments: 252
Kudos: 340





	1. Mission 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Saya_Flourite](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saya_Flourite/gifts).



> So, here it is the second part of _Blood is Thicker than Water_ series! :D
> 
> If someone has clicked this story without reading [the first part](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19270597/chapters/45829960), I don’t think it’s super mandatory to read it to understand this one, since in this fic I’m going to cover the whole game with the difference that here Nero and V are together during the canon, as a result of the ‘missing month’ that happened in the game between the Prologue and Mission 1. 
> 
> Of course, my recommendation would be to read that first part :P However, I understand that 30 chapters may be a lot to handle in one go xDDD So, you can simply read this one assuming that Nero and V are in a established relationship :) Also, I will do my best to explain the necessary things related to the first part so that this one in understandable as a standalone ;)
> 
> As usual, the rating of the fic begins with T but it will be raised as the story advances, so keep a look at the tags and the rating ;)

**_June 15 - 4:24 a.m._ **

“ _Red Grave and its surrounding cities have ceased to function as a result of the mysterious tree that apparently attacked the city approximately one month ago. In light of this incident, the government has now—_ ”

Nero switched the station, suppressing an impatient curse. He tried two more channels, but all the news was panicking about the hypothetical imminent Apocalypses, so he decided turn it off.

“Same crap, different day.” He stepped down his seat, addressing Nico next. “So, tell me.”

He missed the way the woman looked at him with curiosity through the rearview mirror as he approached the jukebox.

“Tell you what?”

“How’s it feel to be rescuing the guy that killed your father?”

It was quite a brusque question, but after spending the whole night helping Nico with her inventions there weren’t many topics of conversation that remained to be touched. Besides, if the end was as close as people feared, he wanted to be sure that Nico was really okay with participating in that mission, he thought while she answered his question in an excessive carefree tone.

He owed her a lot already. She had been a great help when that bastard left him half-dead, and she hadn’t stopped working on new arms schemes to make battles easier for him, so he would understand that she had got tired already of ‘babysitting’ him, as she liked to say to piss him off.

However, when less than a minute later they pinpointed several empusas ahead, freely rampaging around the city, Nero was convinced that Nico was exactly where she wanted to be. The way she ran over all the demons they came across, as if she was getting bonus points for not sparing any single one of them, proved it. Also, her wild smile while driving showed she was having fun while doing so, as creepy as it sounded.

So, Nero decided to stop worrying, which was a relief because he had enough on his plate already, and not _just_ due to that arrogant demon wanting to rule over the world.

It would take them a little more than half an hour to reach the bridge, and during that time Nero had to refrain himself from calling at Devil May Cry office to check if V was still there. To verify that he was still fine.

At the end, Nero preferred to wait until the invoker got in touch with him. V had been quite strict after all. He had basically forbidden him from getting overly worried, even if Nero knew his concern was more than justified. The way V had collapsed after they came back to Red Grave some days ago, and how it had taken him two whole days to wake up, wasn’t something _not_ to worry about. Shit, it was fucking preoccupying, but Nero didn’t want to risk to get into another argument with V, since last one had been quite heavy.

“ _In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not like your former fiancée. If you wanted something simple, you should have remained by that woman’s side, but you decided not to, and I warned you about it._ ”

Yes, definitely V couldn’t be more different than Kyrie. Falling for him during their journey had been something he definitely hadn’t expected, neither looked for. It had just happened, gradually and irremediably, and when he finally acknowledged it and accepted it, he had needed to convince V about being together.

“ _When you came back and expressed your wish to be with me, I warned you about not knowing what you were asking for, about not knowing where you were getting yourself into, but you didn’t listen to me._ ”

Nero felt his heart skip a beat when remembering how damn nervous he had been that night, while confessing his feelings. He had managed to catch up to V after an extremely quick trip to Fortuna, that ended with him breaking up with Kyrie before rushing back to V’s side.

It had taken him a lot of arguments to convince V that he had really fallen in love with him. He had almost needed to destroy the necklace Kyrie gave him years ago to prove to V he wasn’t with Kyrie anymore, and that the feelings he once may have harbored for her now belonged to him.

At the end, the invoker believed him, which had been the happiest moment of the journey. Nero didn’t have any problem in admitting that.

“ _You stubbornly insisted you knew what you were doing. You claimed you knew enough about me, even after I stated you didn’t. And despite my reluctance, I decided to trust you. I decided to believe that you would accept the conditions that being with me carried._ ”

V was right. After getting together, he had promised V he didn’t need to know everything about him, and that staying by his side was all that mattered.

He had managed to fulfill that promise for almost a week, during which V and him had been able to spend some time together. They had the chance of parking for a little while the reality of Urizen’s imminent threat, especially in the occasions when Nero’s only care had been the feeling V’s body moving against him, until they both ended entangled together under the sheets, spent but sated.

Those days felt too distant now, especially when the last proper conversation Nero had with V had ended with the invoker clearly threatening to break up in case he went against V’s wishes of inquiring about topics that, according to V, didn’t concern Nero.

The devil hunter hadn’t had any other choice than accepting V’s conditions, because as frustrating as it was, the invoker was partly right. If he hadn’t compromised to respect V’s need of privacy, of secrecy, he would have the right to protest, but he had. Therefore, questions such as why V refused to tell him anything too detailed about his past, or why the invoker took the blame for Urizen’s appearance, or why Urizen seemed to have something to do with V’s recent fainting, were things he had to avoid mentioning.

It sucked, and not talking about it wouldn’t stop him from keeping worrying, but if that’s what V needed from him that’s what Nero would do, hoping that, while pretending to be asleep during the last night they shared the same bed, V had listened to his petition of counting on him when it mattered.

* * *

When they arrived at the bridge, the demons were wiping off the military, which was struggling to stop their advances. Also, those damn roots that had remained more or less calmed up till then, didn’t stop appearing from the ground to make everything even more messy.

The last modifications that Nico had introduced in Overture came quite in handy to force his way through Red Grave bridge without major difficulties. Finishing the particular big root blocking the end of the bridge was a little trickier, but Nero still managed to pulverize it without receiving a single scratch.

He had barely hung Red Queen from his back again when Nico joined him, after following the path he had cleaned.

“Hey, tough guy. That’ll keep ‘em, but not for long.”

“What do you mean?”

“Soldier boy said city’s goin’ to hell and back, taken over by the underworld. Not just here, but everywhere.”

There was no trace of Nico’s previous easy-going attitude, which made Nero grit his teeth while staring at the destroyed town. He brought his left hand to the place his severed arm ended and the prosthesis began.

He couldn’t help to remember that city that had also been attacked two weeks ago, during their journey. The citizens had been completely unprepared and lots of lives had been lost. That was the moment where V confessed that he was the one to blame for Urizen’s excessive power, and even if Nero didn’t know what prompted V to make such a weird confession, he was frustratingly aware of his part to blame in the matter.

“Yamato did this…”

He was already clenching his jaw, remembering the impotence he felt while writhing in pain in the garage after Urizen took his arm, when the phone of the van began to sound.

There weren’t that many people who Nico had shared that number with, so the options of who was calling were pretty reduced. With his heart beating slightly faster Nero rapidly entered the copilot seat, attending the call while Nico started the van again.

“Yeah?”

“ _You sound quite breathless_. _Is this a bad time?_ ”

Nero was relieved when hearing V at the other side, sounding serene and with its usual strength.

“Nah, but things are really crazy around here. I hadn’t seen so many demons around since Fortuna.”

“ _Yes, the situation is quite critical, which confirms our suspicions about Urizen’s imminent resurrection._ ”

Nero frowned.

“Wait, how do you know that? Aren’t you in Devil May Cry?”

His question was answered when hearing at the other side of the line one of Griffon’s lightning attacks followed by one of his loud caws.

“ _I left it some time ago. It had no sense to remain there after translating the manuscript._ ”

Nero’s eyebrows raised at that.

“You did?” V hummed affirmatively. “Was it useful?”

He could feel V’s small smirk in the invoker’s next words.

“ _I will tell you when we meet._ ”

Nero rolled his eyes, discovering he wasn’t used to V’s cryptic attitude as much as he should.

“Fine. Where are you now?”

V offered him some quick indications about his current position. Nero thought that V had risked himself too much by going there alone, and that he could have simply waited for him to come back to go there together, but for the time being he preferred to keep that thought to himself.

“Okay, we’ll be there as soon as we can.” He hesitated but eventually continued. “Be careful, okay?”

Considering their last argument, when a small pause followed Nero feared for a moment that V didn’t appreciate that last comment, or that he decided to hang up without saying anything else, so he was glad when V talked again with a slightly softer tone.

“ _You too._ ”

Nero leaned forward to hang up, talking to Nico next.

“V’s waiting up for us up ahead. Try not to get us killed on the way there.”

The woman didn’t answer, limiting herself to increase a little the speed. Nero leaned back against the seat and remained looking the road in front of him, lost in his thoughts.

He didn’t know if things were good again between him and V. Probably not yet. But at least the invoker hadn’t sounded angry anymore, so it was better than nothing.


	2. Mission 2

**_June 15 - 5:32 a.m._ **

The commercial district was filled with multiple sinkholes when they arrived, as a result of those damn roots uncontrollably growing underground. Nero was surprised when Nico commented that she couldn’t proceed further, since he was already fearing that the woman decided to step on the pedal without giving him time to get a proper hold at anything. Maybe he had pegged her wrong and she wasn’t as crazy as he thought.

“Alright. Guess I’m walking then.”

“Yo yo yo.” He was about to stand up from his seat when she beat him to it. “Check it out.”

As usual, she trotted towards her workshop without major explanations, forcing him to follow her with a resigned face.

“What?” She snapped a letter against his chest, not leaving him any other option than grabbing it. “And this is?”

“From Morrison. I think it’s his [manifesto](https://devilmaycry.fandom.com/wiki/J.D._Morrison).”

Nero frowned more, surprised that the old man had sent him something when it hadn’t been that much since they got in touch. He was still observing the letter when Nico said she needed some minutes to add his arms some vital finishing touches, so in the meantime he sat down on the van’s couch and opened the envelope to read its content.

There were four pages inside. The introduction of the first one allowed him to understand that Morrison had sent that letter before they talked on the phone. Probably Kyrie had been the one in warning him about their comeback, since Nero had called her to tell her their journey was finally over after they found the manuscript that V had managed to decipher.

Nero scratched the back of his head when remembering that conversation. It had been extremely awkward despite Kyrie’s attempts of sounding as usual, or precisely because of it. They had been together for enough time so that Nero could perfectly realize when she was forcing herself to sound cheery, as if she was fine and she had got over their breakup already. A breakup that had been quite sudden, even if Kyrie was already foreseeing it even before Nero confessed his feelings about V.

“ _You came back to me to tell me the truth. Doing that takes courage, Nero. Until the very end, you really cared about the relationship we had, about us. And even if it hurts to see the end of it, I’m grateful for it._ ”

He sighed, selfishly thinking for a second that it would have been better if Kyrie had got angry at him instead of having been so understanding, but she was like that: kind and forgiving. 

“Bad news or what?”

Nero’s heart skipped a beat when Nico suddenly asked that with curiosity.

“I don’t know, I haven’t finished yet,” he simply answered, ignoring once again that little voice that told him that the sooner he told Nico about his breakup with Kyrie, the less probable it was that he ended with a devil breaker stuffed up his ass. 

Nico snorted from behind her table.

“Sorry, my bad: I forgot that dummies read slow.”

Nero showed the woman his middle finger and ignored her giggles while focusing on the pages again. The first three pages were on and on about Dante’s past, so Nero simply skimmed over them, only retaining the information that the man had a brother that he had eventually killed, and that something similar had happened to Lady with her father. 

“Devil May Cry is full of dysfunctional families, huh?” He muttered self-mockingly, reaching for the fourth page.

That one _did_ catch his attention, since in there Morrison mentioned an incident that took place in Mallet Island.

> _A few years went by, and Dante went off to an island._
> 
> _(...)_
> 
> _Seems the demon king was trying to break seal to get into our world and she wanted Dante to stop him..._
> 
> (...)
> 
> _Dante took out the demon king once and for all and came back to Devil May Cry with Trish in tow._
> 
> (...)
> 
> _And this time around, when V showed up, guess what task he had for our boy Dante?_
> 
> _"Defeat the resurrected Demon King..."_
> 
> (...)
> 
> _Is the "demon king" waiting for him there the same one from Mallet Island? Your guess is as good as mine._

Nero gulped, his eyes staring without seeing the end of the letter in which Morrison basically wished him good luck and encouraged him not to die.

Since the moment he and V met, it had been evident that V wasn’t a normal fellow. Nero hadn’t needed to become his lover to deduce that. From the way he talked to the way he fought it had always looked as if the invoker had much more experience than the one which would belong to a man of his age. Also, whenever V had revealed something about himself, sometimes on purpose but mainly by accident, it always transpired as if it had happened long, long ago.

It was true that, at all effects, V looked like a normal human being, and that Nero’s instincts had never been activated around the invoker as it usually happened when feeling a demonic presence close to him. However, the fact that V could invoke _and_ command three familiars of such power wasn’t normal at all. Their presence betrayed that, at some point, V must have been involved with demonic forces.

Finally, what Morrison had written about Trish’s origins in that letter, about the woman having been created by that demon king...what if the same had happened to V? What if V had been somehow created by Urizen? What if that bastard was the one to blame for whatever V suffered in Mallet? Was that the reason why V wanted to kill Urizen so badly? And what if his last fainting had been Urizen's fault? What if Urizen was able to influence in V now they were close enough to him? 

Nero cursed under his breath and clenched his jaw. His mind was full with even more questions than before. Damn Morrison. Why the fuck did he have to send him that letter? Now there was no way he couldn’t ask V about who he truly was, even if the risk of the invoker getting angry at him again was pretty high. 

“Hey, we doing this or what?” He stood up, making his best to hide his impatience because he didn’t want to give Nico a reason to pry. 

The woman proudly showed him the new merchandise. As usual, she fleeced him a little with the argument that her works were always top quality. Nero reluctantly paid the price and stepped on the street with a couple of extra arms hanging from his belt. He looked back once to check that Nico was okay, but when he obtained a couple of impatient honks as an answer he was convinced the craftswoman would be perfectly on her own. 

Nero looked forward, checked that his arm was well adjusted, and proceeded to run down the gallery.

“I need to catch it to V. Fast.”

* * *

“You sure you don’t need to stop for a while, V?”

The invoker clicked his tongue with annoyance when hearing Griffon’s suggestion. He removed his cane from the head of the last empusa he had killed and tapped the ground next to him twice with the end of it, ordering Shadow to reappear under his feet. 

“I appreciate your concern, Griffon, but I’m perfectly able to determine when I do need a rest, thank you very much.”

His sarcastic reply made Griffon sigh with patience. The bird rapidly put himself at his level despite the fact that Shadow was transporting him at a good rhythm towards Red Grave’s Cathedral. V had decided to established the meeting point there because the emblematic building was almost in the center of the city, which was surely the best place to start their activities.

Under normal circumstances he would have been there already, but demons were particularly annoying that morning and respawned with a frequency that V hadn’t seen up till then, difficulting their advance. He really hoped that they weren’t able to keep that rhythm or their energies would be wasted away by when they reached Urizen, which V guessed it was precisely what the last was trying to achieve.

“Jeez, I thought you’d be less grumpy after talking to the boy, but I guess that you still have to make up. Or should I say make _out?_ Maybe that would be more effective to lift your spirits.”

V half-closed his eyes at Griffon, but the bird only cawed a laugh.

“Come on, V, I’m only joking!” The bird’s tone turned more serious. “We better do it now that we can, don’t you think? Since we don’t have that much time left and all that.”

The invoker smiled humorlessly, fixing his eyes in the front.

“You sound as if you were doubting our chances of success.” His tone turned ironic. “I know I’m not in my best condition, but I was expecting more faith from my familiars.”

Griffon surprised him by flapping his wings with energy from behind, disheveling a little his hair.

“That’s not what I meant, you stupid kid.”

V looked at Griffon confused when this one sounded sulking.

“What did you mean then?”

Griffon sighed even more exaggeratedly.

“Alright, thinking about it better, surely the guys and I won’t miss _that much_ being the familiars of such a dumb master.”

V was surprised with the way his heart skipped a beat when hearing Griffon’s comment.

Since there had always been something more pressing or urgent occupying his thoughts, the truth Griffon had exposed had never crossed his mind, but the bird was right. Griffon, Shadow and Nightmare were mere manifestations extracted from Vergil's past, surely discarded as well for the memories they brought.

If everything ended being as it was supposed to, V wouldn’t need them anymore when being complete. He would be strong enough once again to be able to stand on his own, without having to depend on others constantly looking after him. It would be liberating. It had to be. And for sure, the reason why he felt a light apprehension at the idea was that, in his current state, he still needed their help and the perspective of being deprived of them was unsettling. 

“I could say the same,” V replied instead with his best casual tone. “It will be relieving not having to worry about your inopportune manifestations.”

Griffon surprised him with a mischievous chuckle.

“Sorry, but I remind you that last time it was _you_ the one who lost control and inopportunely invoked us while you and the boy were—”

“ _Do not_ finish that sentence.”

V glared at Griffon again when this one burst out laughing, and the way the shadowy trail under his feet was trembling indicated V that Shadow was chuckling too. He clicked his tongue loudly, and impatiently commanded Shadow to travel faster, thinking to himself that, definitely, he wouldn’t miss his familiars’ insolent mocking one bit when they were gone.

Soon the Cathedral could be seen from where they were. If the circumstances had been different V perhaps would have admired its objectively impressive architecture, but two things prevented him from doing so: first, the emblematic building had been left in quite a poor state due to the demons incessant attacks, which had destroyed a good part of the structure; and second, the massive beast that was growling and fighting against someone who V immediately identified as Nero got all his attention.

“Holy crap!” Griffon cawed while V extracted his poetry book. “Hey, it’s just me or that kid has improved a lot since we first met?”

“He has.” V gripped his book with more force when seeing his concern was uncalled for, since Nero looked perfectly at ease while handling such gigantic demon. “It seems incredible he was that boy who got beaten up by Urizen so badly.”

V was pretty sure his tone had sounded perfectly composed, at least until Griffon talked with a knowing tone that proved him wrong.

“Come on, V, there’s no reason to be envious: I remind you he hasn’t managed to beat you yet.”

They were pretty close to the small plaza where the fight was taking place, so V chose to remain silent instead of trying to justify that his feelings weren’t as such. Nero was about to finish that demon off when they arrived, but he stopped that from happening by throwing Griffon against it. After all, he may not have directly participated in the battle, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t add his little grain on sand to it.

“ _I curse my stars in bitter grief and woe,/That made my love so high and me, so low._ ”

V felt Nero’s eyes on him as he threw Shadow against the demon. The panther’s attacks had been potentiated with his recent poem, which allowed the familiar to use a common spinning attack to make the beast fall forward against the ground heavily. 

“Why…” The demon weakly panted as he slowly approached. “Why are you…?”

“ _Little wanderer, hue thee home!_ ”

The envy he didn't admit to have showed in the way he slowly dug his cane on the demon’s head, the cruel action providing him some twisted satisfaction for being able to kill such a enormous creature when his body was so fragile. 

Since he was busy observing the demon’s body disintegrate, he failed to notice how Nero approached him with certain hesitation before finally speaking.

“Thought I was gonna have to pick you out of his...tummy teeth.”

V looked at Nero out of the corner of his eye. 

“Pardon my delay, I was catching up on some reading.”

Nero rolled his eyes at his reply, since in more than one occasion the devil hunter had expressed his stupor of V still reading that book that, according to him, he had to have ‘fucking memorized’ by then.

“Yeah...Looks like a real page-turner.”

The pause that followed next wasn’t as awkward as the last time they talked in person but wasn’t comfortable either. After all, the fact that the topic of their last discussion hadn’t be brought again didn’t mean everything was solved, and to be honest, V still feared that Nero decided to continue asking about sensitive matters. 

“So…” V tensed, getting ready for whatever Nero planned to ask. “You think Dante’s still in there?”

V relaxed again. Perhaps at the end his fears were unfounded and Nero was actually going to respect his wishes.

“If Urizen defeated him, then I expect he’s not much more than Qliphoth pollen by now.”

He distractedly caught and let go a speck of dust that had fallen from the gigantic Qliphoth root that had been destroyed after killing that demon. He wondered that, in case of failing their mission, his existence would vanish in the air just like that: silently and quickly, as if he had never been there in the first place.

“A what?”

Nero’s confused question interrupted his thoughts.

“Qliphoth. It’s a tree that grows in the underworld. It thrives on human blood, and those whose blood it sucks, well...” V signaled with his cane at some people whose fate had already been sealed. “Let’s just say they don’t turn out too well.”

Nero sighed, clenching his jaw briefly.

“Well, in any case...we need to find out. If Dante is alive, we’ll save him. If not, we don’t.”

V read in Nero’s determined steps that the devil hunter was more affected by those people’s deaths than what he let it show. He had experienced first hand how bad it could be that Nero was driven by impulsivity, and although the boy had learned how to tame it most part of the times, now V wasn’t sure that was the case.

“Wait.” He placed the end of the cane on Nero’s shoulder, making him turn around. “First, we need to exterminate some Qliphoth roots.”

When he finished speaking Shadow began to approach him, together with Griffon who decided to pose on his arm. He was about to better explain what he had learned thanks to the manuscript when Nero spoke with a puzzled tone.

“V... What the hell are you?”

The good news was that V hadn’t time to freeze when being caught totally off guard with that question, since at that moment Griffon left his arm when a van approached them at a fast speed. 

The driver, a woman who had to be around Nero’s age and who V deduced was that ‘Nico’ the boy had occasionally talked about, began to say something that he didn’t pay much attention to until he heard his name being called. 

“Hey, you must be V, huh? Hey, you gonna get that? Ding ding ding, by your feet!”

Between the woman’s fast speech and the fact Nero’s words were still rounding his head, it took V a moment to understand she was referring to a piece of the beast Nero had defeated. He used the cane to threw it towards Nico, who caught it and smelled it. He missed the rest of the conversation that such an action produced, his thoughts centered on what the best course of action would be. Should he pretend he hadn’t heard Nero's question? Or would it be better if he tried to clarify what the boy had really meant with it? 

He had barely decided to adopt the first option by following Nero inside the van when the boy suddenly stopped and turned around.

“Hey...uhm…can we talk for a bit?” Nero’s eyes shifted to the van, from where Nico could be heard humming a song, and lowered his voice. “In private.”

V tensed again, raising a little his chin with his eyes half-closed in suspicion because Nero’s hesitation did not bode well.

“About what?”

Nero opened his mouth, seemed to regret it because he closed it, and then exhaled a defeated sigh and tried again.

“Look, if you don’t like what I say you can use your familiars to beat me up or whatever you want, but can you just come with me? Please?”

V was still reluctant, but Nero’s lightly pleading tone and the way his familiars looked at him intensely, silently encouraging him to go, eventually convinced him to accept the boy’s petition. Once his familiars were back within him, he followed Nero inside the ruined Cathedral. The devil hunter looked once towards the van, as if he wanted to be sure they were out of Nico’s vision, and seemed to be satisfied with their hidden position because he focused his attention on him again.

“Morrison sent me a letter,” Nero began to talk without any kind of preamble, as if he didn’t want to risk V got impatient and tried to leave. “He gave me a bunch of intel about Dante, and one of the things he mentioned was that he defeated the demon king once in Mallet. And also, that that demon king was the one in creating Trish.”

V frowned, not understanding and, therefore, neither liking where the conversation was going. Nero had apparently read his expression correctly because the devil hunter suddenly placed both hands against the wall on either side of his shoulders, caging him there. V’s right eyebrow twitched imperceptibly with annoyance, noticing too late it would have been wiser to pick a position that allowed him more freedom of movement, although he knew he wouldn’t have any trouble in setting himself free in case it was necessary.

Nero seemed to also read that last bit of V’s thoughts because he didn’t waste time in talking, fast but with confidence.

“That night I promised you I wouldn’t ask about your past anymore, and I won’t. But what I read made me think about...well, about a lot stuff, and I just wanted to tell you that whoever you truly are, whatever you are, I don’t care. I don’t mind if you’re human, demon, or none of that; if you are two days old or if you are so old that you could be my father: I don’t give a shit about any of it. Because as long as you keep being you...” Nero fixed his blue eyes in his with resolution. “...I’ll fight alongside you, and I’ll stand by you.”

V verified once again that his capacity of remaining imperturbable lost practically all its effect with Nero, since he couldn’t help to stare at the devil hunter in relieved disbelief. Now he understood Nero’s previous question about his identity. Apparently, Morrison’s letter had made him come up with some curious deductions that, though not entirely wrong if you squint hard, they were absolutely inaccurate.

That wasn’t important at the moment though, or at least not as much as Nero’s words. The unmistakable sincerity in the boy’s speech had provided V with a dangerous hope about a dim possibility of Nero accepting him even after rebirthing as Vergil, something that two days ago he had considered unthinkable. However, dispelling the boy’s doubts was something he still planned to delay as much as he could. They weren’t even close to Urizen yet after all, so he couldn’t take the risk of Nero refusing to collaborate with him.

In the worst case scenario, his relationship with Nero wouldn’t just be ruined, but also the fate of the whole world. Although, in a completely selfish note, that first thing was what truly worried V at the moment.

“So? Say something, dammit.”

V was brought to reality again when Nero snapped that. He knew the boy was only being rude to hide his nervousness, so he chuckled before adopting a serene tone that didn’t match his slightly faster heartbeat.

“Well, it seems that I won’t need to punish you by using my familiars,” V interrupted Nero’s protest by talking with a serious tone that didn’t hold the irony of his previous comment. “Thank you. I do really appreciate your words.”

_“We’ll do things your way, as usual. But in exchange, please, V…please, don’t be an idiot. You don’t have to deal with whatever you’re dealing alone. Not anymore. You can count on me. You always can count on me, no matter for what, so do it, damnit. I love you, V. And whatever you need, I’m here for you.”_

The promise Nero had whispered the last time they shared a bed, with him pretending to sleep to avoid any kind of confrontation with Nero, came to him at that moment, and he decided his words had probably fallen short.

“I know I can trust you. And that I can count on you." Nero’s shocked eyes proved him that the boy hadn’t expected he added something else. “And I will, whenever I can. You have my word on that.”

Nero gulped and nodded briefly. The small silence that fell between them was also charged, but with something clearly different that wasn’t awkwardness. V couldn’t prevent a knowing smirk from appearing on his face when catching the way Nero’s travelled from his eyes to his mouth, a small gesture that spoke volumes about what Nero was craving to do.

“You want to kiss me.”

It was a statement, not a question, and it made Nero’s ears redden.

“Yeah, of course I do,” Nero snarled, the barely contained desire in his tone making V feel a small shiver of anticipation travel down his spine. "But since you were pissed off I didn’t want to risk you chopped my tongue off in case I tried to—”

V didn’t let Nero end the sentence. 

* * *

Nero had been about to insult himself aloud when that question had escaped him after V joined him again, since he had perfectly noticed the way V’s body had stiffened when he did so. For a moment he had been really afraid that V decided to carry out his threat of leaving, which had prompted him to speak to the invoker. 

Then, after finishing talking, he hadn’t known what to expect from V. The invoker confirming that he trusted him and that would count on him had been really low in the ranking of possible outcomes, and even lower it was that V suddenly grabbed the front of his sweater to pull him in into a violent, open mouthed kiss that made all the heat travel south. 

It wasn’t the way Nero had expected to put a definitive end to their last discussion, but like hell if he was going to complain.

A low, aroused groan escaped Nero when V’s tongue began to dance against his, showing that he wasn’t the only one in having craved the other one’s taste. The rational part of his brain was telling him that time was ticking, but his body chose to ignore it for the sake of pressing his whole weigth against V, resting both of his forearms on either side of his head. He forced V’s legs opened with his own and tentatively grinded against the invoker, making their crotches rub together.

Nero’s member throbbed when V broke the kiss to groan while resting the back of his head against the stone. The cane fell forgotten onto the ground after V’s hands settled on his waist to encourage him to increase the force of the grinding. Nero cursed against V’s half-parted lips, warmth spreading in his stomach for the continuous, pleasant friction. He sank his teeth on the side of V’s exposed neck, provoking a breathy pant from V that went directly to his groin. 

“Are you sure we should be doing this in sacred ground, Nero?” Each fiber of Nero’s body reacted when V’s gloved hand sneaked lower between their bodies to grope at his clothed erection, forcing a keening sound from his gritted teeth. “As a former Knight, you should feel ashamed.”

Nero snorted with a wild smile at V’s provoking teasing. He removed V’s right hand from his bulge to pin it against the wall, using his mechanical hand to do the same with V’s left. He allowed himself two seconds of enjoying V’s pupils dilating when finding his upper limbs restricted before rasping his next words.

“I’ve always been the rebellious type.”

He came back to lick the recent mark his teeth had left in V’s neck while resuming the undulation of his hips, feeling incredibly satisfied when the invoker had to bite his lower lip not to moan for being unable to move on his own. 

He wanted to hear V though. The invoker was always louder whenever Nero went a little rough on him, so he put himself at V’s (almost) same level to lick the invoker’s lower lip. He prompted V to open his mouth again to initiate another wild kiss. His member spasmed when feeling V’s moans in his mouth with each rock of his hips. 

Nero was about to release V to fumble with their respective pants, needing to feel V’s direct skin against his own, when two loud honks sounded in the distance. The mood was broken, together with the sexual tension when they both looked in the direction of the van, in the precise moment in which Nico began to yell with impatience.

“Nero, where the hell are you two? I thought we were in a hurry! So move your ass here already or I’ll begin to suspect you’re cheating on Kyrie with that mysterious creep.”

The laughs that followed showed that the woman considered such a possibility a really bad joke. Nero exhaled a frustrated curse and looked at V again, who was staring at him with a quirked up eyebrow.

“Shall I presume she isn’t aware of our relationship?”

The fake calm tone V used caused the hair in the back of Nero’s neck to stand. He rapidly released V’s wrists, allowing the invoker to cross his arms while displaying an unamused expression that was clearly demanding some kind of explanation from him.

“N-No, not yet, but there’s a reason for it!”

“Really? I’m impatient to hear it then.”

Again, Nero talked all the rapidly he could to explain V that, in summary, he didn’t want to be killed by Nico before they could kill Urizen, and that therefore it was better to postpone she finding out about them. 

When he finished with his babbled explanations, V simply hummed, clearly unconvinced. Nero gulped again, holding his breath when V crouched to recover his cane and faced him again with a warning expression.

“Well, despite the risks associated with the announcement, I strongly recommend you to tell her soon, Nero.” His breath hitched when V casually settled his left hand on his left shoulder to threateningly whisper the next part of the sentence against his ear. “Because if you don’t, I will actively show her to whom you belong now.”

V took his leave without adding anything else, forcing Nero to remain behind during some extra minutes because there was no way that Nico did _not_ notice the raging erection that V’s words had provoked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Integrating these dialogues so that it made sense that Nero and V were together was a little pain in the ass, but I think I somehow managed xD
> 
> I wasn't honestly expecting to raise the rating so soon since they were only going to kiss but it ended wilder that intended so, just to play safe even if nothing too explicit happens, the fic is M now :)


	3. Mission 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since the story is happening during the game, I'm cowardly skipping the main battles because first, I'm sure whoever is reading this fic has played the game and knows the battles already, and second, it always takes me a lot to describe the action scenes, so unless it's indispensable for the story I prefer to focus on the interactions ;)

**_June 15 - 6:12 a.m._ **

V had felt quite annoyed when learning that Nero had not informed his close friend about his new romantic situation. Also, he hadn’t liked that Nero was wearing that pendant around his neck again, since he knew what it meant and who had given it to him.

However, Nero’s reaction when he had basically laid claim to him had managed to dispel his irritation. Nero’s strong reaction had proved the boy felt at ease with his situation, which had been extremely satisfying. In fact, the smirk that had appeared when hearing Nero curse behind him, in surprise but also undeniably arousal, was still in his face when reaching the van, and he didn’t bother to remove it when entering the vehicle.

As it usually happened when being in new territory, V felt his familiars wanting to manifest to get a look at it. There wasn’t much room inside though, as if that woman hadn’t wanted to leave any space empty. So, for the time being, V only allowed Griffon to appear in order to prevent the big panther to accidentally breaking something, even if the feline was normally quite careful.

“Wow, such a neat place.”

The bird had muttered that sarcastic comment in a rather low tone, but Nico’s ear was sharper than they thought, since she snorted from her workspace situated in the back of the van.

“So, the little chicken can talk, huh.” She pointed at Griffon with an old wench while keeping her eyes fixed on him. “Do me a favor and keep an eye on him, ‘kay? I don’t wanna any bird poop in my car.”

V concealed a smile when Griffon huffed at the woman’s words. The familiar perched on the jukebox, fluffing up his feathers with indignation for being treated like a mere pet. Meanwhile V chose to sit on the chair situated behind the driver seat. He expected to spend the wait in silence, since Nico struck him as the kind of person who preferred to isolate herself when being working on her hobbies, so he was surprised when the women suddenly talked to him.

“Where’s that idiot?”

V accurately deduced who the so-called idiot was.

“I think he needed a small rest after the battle,” he vaguely said, not bothering to come up with a more credible excuse.

Nico simply hummed, her concentration still focused on welding a small metallic piece on the new arm she was working on. V interpreted it as the end of the conversation, so he extracted his poetry book in order to review the page of the manuscript that he kept there. He just managed to re-read the first words of the first paragraph before Nico talked again.

“So, the trip went well?”

V nodded before realizing Nico wasn't looking towards him, and that therefore she hadn’t seen his answer.

“Yes. It was a tedious search, but we managed to find what we were looking for.”

Nico hummed again and averted her eyes from the arm to offer him a look full of expectation.

“And just by chance, you didn’t happen to keep juicy demons’ parts that I can use now, right?”

V smiled with amusement and shook his head negatively.

“I’m afraid that we didn’t. Which is a pity because I’m sure you could have extracted something useful from Zagam.”

“Uhm...who?”

V frowned once with confusion.

“Zagam. It was a demon of considerable power we had to face.” Nico didn't seem to know what he was talking about yet. “Hasn’t Nero told you anything about it?”

“Nope. He never tells me anything about his jobs except his usual ‘ _Yeah, it went fine_ ’.”

“But I believed you were close friends.”

“Weeell, maybe ‘friends’ is a little strong word to describe my relation with that asshole, but— _ouch!_ ” She interrupted herself to shake her hand rudely, surely after having burned something she shouldn’t have, like her finger. “Damn, sorry: this thing is a pain in the ass to work with. Anyway, what was I saying...? Oh, yeah, friends, that’s right. Okay, yeah, I guess we are more friends than enemies, _but_ that doesn’t change the fact he’s the antisocial type.”

V blinked, thinking for a moment that Nico was joking but realizing soon she wasn’t.

“Is he?”

Nico barked a loud laugh.

“Come on, you’ve travelled together for how long: a month or so? You must have noticed it. I mean, if you take your time interrogating him maaaaybe you manage to get something out of him, but he _never_ takes the initiative of talking about his stuff, and neither gives much details about anything. That guy is an even bigger misfit than me, and _that_ ’s saying much.”

V nodded slowly to himself. Nico’s perception of Nero had taken him by surprise, since he would have never described Nero as ‘antisocial’. At least with him, the devil hunter had never had any problems in sharing things about his past, answering the questions V had come to ask with very little reluctance. V found himself having to suppress another satisfied smirk, pleased for knowing a side of Nero that other people seemed to be missing.

“And don’t get me started with his ‘I’m-a-lone-wolf’ attitude when working,” Nico continued saying. “And I mean, I get that not everyone is good at teamwork. Until sticking with this idiot I was perfectly fine on my own. But jeez, you should be a little more open if you have someone waiting for you at home. He doesn’t know this, but his girlfriend has been worried sick for him in more than one occasion and the idiot doesn’t even know it.”

V’s eyes slowly drifted towards Nico again. The temptation of correcting such inaccurate term to describe Kyrie was extremely big, but he eventually decided to allow Nero be the one in explaining himself, as he had promised he’d do. For his sake.

“Perhaps that’s a sign something isn’t working as it should between them,” he casually said, making Nico exhale a laugh.

“Nah, they are made for each other.” Nico raised her face from her new invention to look at him. “And let me tell you something: if that asshole doesn’t formally propose her when all this finishes, his right arm won’t be the only one in needing repairing.”

V found himself grabbing his cane with more force after hearing Nico’s innocent comment, since the woman’s words caused unpleasant images to appear in his mind, consisting of fragments of the life Nero could have had in case of not crossing paths with him: Nero and Kyrie getting married while wearing those matching pendants; Nero and Kyrie living together in Fortuna with those orphans they had been taking care of; Nero and Kyrie having children on their own, and watching them grow as years passed by.

During the journey, and especially after getting together with Nero, he had purposely avoided thinking about what could happen in case of failing their mission. However, now that his fate was so close to be decided, all those hidden fears he had managed to bury inside were finally coming afloat.

Among them, the idea of Nero being able to find happiness with someone who wasn’t him was the worst of all. The thought that Nero could choose to come back to that woman in case he was unable to become complete again, in case he died, was unbearable.

Up till then, he hadn’t been aware that such an outcome could be possible, and V felt his chest tighten painfully at such perspective. His rational side told him feeling that way was stupid. There was no point in worrying about something that could happen in case he ceased to exist. He wouldn’t be alive to see such situation through after all. He wouldn’t be able to suffer it either. So, feeling resentful for the hypothesis of Nero rearranging his life after he was gone was selfish, and wrong.

V knew that, but he couldn’t help it.

There was a reason why Vergil had never dared to open his heart to anyone, and it was the fear of being hurt beyond repair. The older son of Sparda had experienced firsthand what it was to love someone only to lose them afterwards. As the warrior he was, Vergil had received multiple wounds, but none of them could ever compare to the pain of losing his mother. He had discovered then that the wounds produced by love always left a permanent, invisible scar that never came to heal.

That’s why, at first, V had resisted so much to acknowledge and accept his feelings for Nero. At the end, even if part of him was still afraid of loss, he decided that being with the boy would compensate that fear, and he didn’t regret his decision. However, all those years, decades, of avoiding any kind of emotional attachment had left a mark which would be difficult, surely impossible, to erase completely.

Vergil, and for extension him, wasn’t used to love or to be loved. So, now that V was experiencing it again thanks to Nero, he couldn’t easily accept that the love Nero harbored for him could eventually belong to someone else. He couldn’t easily accept that Nero still cared about other people besides himself, like Kyrie or those orphans. Again, rationally he knew such a thing was natural, but irrationally he couldn’t help to want that Nero was his and no one’s else.

Perhaps someday, if he lived enough to see a new dawn, he would feel more inclined to accept to share Nero’s affection with others. But, at the moment, that wasn’t the case at all.

“Oh, look who finally decides to join us!”

V was still lost in his thoughts when Griffon talked, almost at the same moment that the door of the van opened and Nero stepped inside.

“Finally!” Nico exclaimed when Nero hadn’t even closed the door yet. “I thought you had got lost _again_.”

“Hey, last time it wasn’t my fault. It was you the one who moved the van without warning me.”

“I moved it _just_ a couple of meters. Even a dumb child wouldn’t have any problems in finding me again.”

“A couple? You should review your math, Nico.”

“Says the asshole who doesn’t check how cash he has before asking for improvements he cannot afford!”

At least, the brief interchange of accusations allowed V to push aside the wave of negative thoughts that had assaulted him, so when Nero dropped on the copilot seat facing him there was no trace of any distress in his expression.

“So, you were saying something about exterminating some roots, right?”

V proceeded to explain Nero all he had learned about the Qliphoth. He told him that the tree was growing upside-down, so the more those roots appeared on the surface, the more the tree branches would spread underground. Also, the more time it passed, the more probable it was that the roots evolved in power and intelligence, surpassing the one Nero had been forced to fight in the bridge in his way there. Finally, since lesser demons were nurturing the tree non-stop with humans’ blood, they should destroy as many of them as they could, in order to delay the Qliphoth complete manifestation at its maximum.

“I think we should split into two groups,” V eventually concluded, having some arguments ready because he knew that Nero would complain for wanting to go on his own.

“...And cover more ground. Good idea.”

The discussion V was expecting to face never came, since Nero didn’t protest one bit for his proposal. The boy simply removed his feet from the front of the car and began walking towards the back, in the direction of Nico’s workspace.

V turned his head a little to the right, only half-listening to Nero and Nico’s new quarrel about the price of the new arm she had created. He fully sat down on the chair again, feeling annoyance settling down again after Nero immediately accepted to go separate ways instead of expressing his worry as usual. After all, one thing was that he complained about Nero’s excess concern, and another that he hadn’t got used to it, or that he didn’t secretly enjoy to know Nero cared about him.

But well, if the devil hunter didn’t have any problem with going on his own, certainly he wasn’t going to waste time dedicating it any unnecessary thought.

He only focused on the conversation again when Nico suddenly addressed him to ramble about how skilled her grandmother was, since Nero had apparently disappeared inside the bathroom and he was the only human available to talk. He waited for Nico to sit on the sofa with her legs crossed to stand up instead, after she finally finished her monologue.

“I’ll take my leave now.”

He waved his hand to dispel the smoke Nico’s recently lit cigar was forming inside the van. At that moment Nero exited the bathroom, so he addressed him next without meeting his eyes, once Griffon was summoned back within him.

“And if I don’t see you along the way, I’ll see you at the bottom of the Qliphoth.”

“Sure.”

Perhaps he closed the door of the van more rudely than usual, after Nero immediately focused his attention on Nico without dedicating him a proper goodbye.

* * *

Spending time with V had allowed Nero to detect when the invoker was pretending to be better than he was. So, despite the fact V looked calm while carrying out his explanation about that damn demonic tree, Nero could perfectly feel the tension V was trying to hide.

However, he simply assumed V was still irritated with him for not having told Nico about his breakup, and since he was pretty sure the invoker wouldn’t stop feeling that way until he actually did so, he decided not to comment anything about it, also accept to go separate ways even if he had got used to work side by side with V and would prefer to keep doing so. After all, being a worrywart had caused more than one discussion with V, so he preferred to avoid that risk.

“Hey, you got any more questions, better ask it now,” Nico suddenly said, giving her tone a joking, mystic tone. “I can’t read minds...Well, yet.”

Nero gulped, looking towards the new arms Nico had created. It was evident she was expecting him to ask about technical stuff, but he realized that if there was a moment to tell the woman about his relationship with V, it was this one.

“Listen, Nico—”

“Oh oh, wait, before you ask me anything tell me something.” Her tone turned suddenly conspiratorial. “Does that V have a girl or something?”

Nero’s eyes opened wide, not having expected that question at all. He took an automatic step backwards, not sure if Nico had managed to discover it and this was a weird way to bring the topic up before beating the crap out of him.

“I’m pretty sure he doesn’t. Why?”

She huffed with impatience.

“Jeez, what do you have those pretty blue eyes for?” She impatiently signaled the right side of her own neck with a circular movement of her finger. “He had a gigantic hickey on his neck. And it was veeery recent. Do you think he maybe went to see someone before meeting us?”

Nero was so busy trying not to look tense that he barely registered the compliment to his eyes. Fuck, why the hell did he leave a visible mark on V? And why the hell did women have to be so damn observant?

“No, I don’t think so. Actually, I _know_ he doesn’t have a girlfriend,” he eventually said, but before he could add anything else Nico barked a laugh.

“Well, you have the capacity of observation of a rock, so maybe you didn’t notice the hints.” Nico took another drag of her cigar and left it on the small table ashtray before approaching her workspace. “Oh, and by the way, I’m super angry at you for not having brought me a part of Zogam. Or Zagam. Or whoever that demon was.”

Nero frowned.

“What?”

Nico snorted, pointing at him with an accusatory finger.

“Yeah, yeah, play dumb all you want, but V told me about you wasting the chance of bringing me something awesome.”

Nero raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms.

“Really? He did?”

“Yeah, which means among the two, you’re the party pooper for not sharing the important intel.”

A loud _‘HAH_!’ was about to escape him, but he managed to refrain himself.

“And did you talk about anything else?” He inquired, doubting that V had fulfilled his threat but wanting to be sure about it.

“Nah, I only trashed you a little. The usual stuff.”

Nero snorted while examining his new arm, partly because he wanted to get used to it but also because he was thinking about how to bring the topic he should have brought for a while now.

He had just summoned up courage to face Nico and was opening his mouth to speak when suddenly the ground under trembled, forcing him to take hold at Nico’s worktable not to fall. The woman wasn’t so quick and stumbled backwards with a shocked ‘ _Wow!_ ’, making the arms hanging from the ceiling to produce a metallic sound.

“‘Kay, I ain't wanna tell you gotta do your job, but maaaybe you should be going to kill that plant,” Nico commented after regaining her balance. “I may be a master at driving but if this babe falls into the water we’ll be in big trouble.”

Nico had a point there, so once again Nero had to delay that inevitable conversation a little longer.

The good news was that his destination was clear, since the gigantic Qliphoth roots were impossible to miss. After making a quick estimation Nero decided to go to the one who looked closer, which was the one raising in the middle of Red Grave Antique Library. Advancing through the area was more complicated than usual, with all those buildings that had ended half-submerged as a result of the roots’ uncontrollable growth. Thankfully, the new modifications Nico had made in the new arms helped a lot, since he could use them to hook on places that would be inaccessible otherwise.

Of course, demons didn’t stop appearing while he tried to reach the sewers. When a group of Pyrobats appeared, Nero couldn’t help to remember his first big argument with V, which took place soon after their trip started. At that time, his defeat against Urizen was still very recent, and Nero had the dangerous need to prove he wasn’t weak by fighting with all the demons that stepped in his way. Such reckless attitude made him be about to face a group of those bat-like demons who had set a farm on fire. V stopped him from doing so by using his familiars against him, arguing that there was nothing to do for the people inside, something that was confirmed later, even if at the moment Nero would only get pissed off at V for his apparent lack of humanity.

Nero knew that those demons weren’t the same of that time, but that didn’t stop him from savaging them. He was in the middle of one of those fights when he heard V’s voice in the distance, commanding his familiars. He managed to catch a glimpse of the invoker fighting near the train tracks, but by when he could approach the edge of the platform where he was standing, the invoker had already disappeared without him being able to join him.

At least, the fact that V had been using Nightmare proved that the man had probably recovered, which was a big relief.

Around forty minutes later Nero was finally deep within the Library, really close to the root’s location. There was a phone booth there, so he called Nico so that she was ready to pick him up when he finished it off. As usual, the woman managed to surprise him by appearing at that same moment by destroying the ceiling, worsening even more the state of the building.

“You know I got you covered, asshole.”

Nero rolled his eyes when hearing Nico’s voice still on the phone despite the fact she was right there next to him. He hanged up, hoping that Nico didn’t protest much for having destroyed some arms on his way. She did.

“Dude, now seriously, torturing my babies is your secret kink or what?! Because you have broken _three_ in less than an hour!!”

Nero scratched the back of his head, standing the scolding while the woman examined the pieces he had managed to recover from the broken arms in case some of them still worked. At least several of them could still be used, which placated the woman’s irritation enough so that she provided him with more merchandise.

“Here. Hope you make them last more than 15 minutes.” Nero was already expecting the easy joke associated with that sentence when Nico snapped her fingers. “Oh, I almost forgot: I’ve met with your gothic friend a moment ago.”

Nero’s eyes opened more.

“With V?”

Nico offered him a sardonic smile.

“How many ‘gothic friends’ do you have? Yeah, with V. I met him close to one of the other roots,” she began to walk back to the driver seat and Nero followed her. “I have to admit that the guy knows how to use his pets. He helped me park the car really smoothly.”

Nero really doubted that Nico could ever do anything smoothly, but he kept that comment to himself in order to ask what it really mattered.

“And how was he? Did he look okay?”

Nico, who had barely sat on the driver’s seat, looked at him with surprise.

“I guess so? I mean, he wasn’t hurt if that’s what you mean.”

Nico didn’t add anything else, but Nero could see that the woman hadn’t expected that he showed concern for someone who, theoretically, was a temporary acquaintance. For third time that day, his intention of telling Nico had to be postponed when he felt a powerful demonic presence coming from far ahead.

“Stay here. I think this is gonna get messy.”

* * *

Indeed, it got messy, and in more ways that Nero had predicted, since definitely he wasn’t expecting to finish the battle against that winged demon sustaining an unconscious, naked Lady covered in sticky blue slime. At least, gross slime aside, she was alive, which meant that the probabilities of Trish and Dante being fine too had just grown.

“It’s Lady.”

Nero turned towards his right when hearing Nico.

“You know her?”

“From my gunsmith days.” Nico suddenly stopped talking, her mouth ending half-parted. “Ah…”

Nero frowned.

“What?”

“I can’t believe you’d do this to Kyrie. I’m gonna have to tell her, man.”

Nero gulped audibly while Nico crouched on the ground to recover a part of the demon he had just killed. The woman turned around at that moment and smiled, obviously misinterpreting his puzzled expression.

“I’m jokin’...Hey, loosen up your jock strap. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Nero waited until Nico left while humming a song to herself to exhale a long sigh.

He remembered his last conversation with Kyrie, when she asked him if he had talked to anyone ‘about their new situation’, since calling it ‘breakup’ was still painful for her. She even offered herself to tell Nico about it in case the woman asked, but since Nero was going to see the woman sooner, he promised Kyrie he would.

And there he was, still without having found a moment to tell the craftswoman about it.

“Kyrie would kill me right now…” He muttered to himself, knowing how Kyrie _never_ left things for the last moment, something he did more times than he should.

Nero exhaled a new long sigh, secured Lady and carried her back to the van. Nico had left the door open for him, so he carefully maneuvered his way inside not to bump Lady with anything. He had just lied the woman on the sofa, on which Nico had put a blanket, when the craftswoman appeared.

“Move aside, pervert,” Nico ordered playfully, appearing from the bathroom with some wet towels. “And don’t you dare to peek. Be a gentleman for once.”

Nero waited until Lady was clean and covered with another blanked before facing Nico, who hadn’t stopped talking during the whole process.

“Jeez, how the hell did she end inside _that_ thing?” Nero took a deep breath while Nico sat down in the chair in front of the sofa where Lady was sleeping. “Well, I guess we’ll only have to wait until she wakes up to—”

“Nico.” The woman finally stopped talking when hearing his serious tone. “There’s something you should know.”

The woman’s brown eyes opened more.

“Okay. About what?”

“About Kyrie and me.”

Nero realized he had chosen the worst start of conversation ever when Nico’s expression illuminated and she began to talk at her usual high speed.

“Wait, don’t tell me you are finally going to propose her!”

“ _What_? No, that’s not what I—”

“Because if that’s the case I can help you prepare it! To make sure you won’t screw it up with a shitty speech, you know?”

“Nico, it’s not that. We—”

“Oh, and if you don’t wanna waste all your savings in an expensive ring, I can surely make you a super decent one in exchange of some ‘materials gathering’ to—”

“I broke up with Kyrie.”

Nico’s loud, shocked **_‘EEEEEH?!_** ’ told Nero that the last choice of words hadn’t been the best either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nero won't die, but only because I'm following the canon ^^U


	4. Mission 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you surely know, the timeline of missions 3-6 of DMC5 is a little confusing, since V's missions 4 and 5 are taking place while Nero is doing missions 3 and 6.  
> That means that in this chapter Nero is in the process of rescuing Lady, and therefore he hasn't told Nico about his breakup with Kyrie yet ;)

**_June 15 - 6:45 a.m._ **

“Hey, V, isn’t that the kid right there?”

“Yes.”

V felt Griffon’s confused gaze on his back when he answered too cuttingly and quickly.

“Uhm...V, you haven’t even looked.”

“I don’t need to. His annoying loud shouts are rather recognizable.”

He quickly ordered Griffon and Shadow to destroy the roots blocking the path of the bridge, wanting to prevent them from commenting anything about his sour mood. He realized too late that cleaning the path, even if necessary for their mission, would provoke the already unstable bridge where he was standing to begin to collapse. He was forced to run to avoid falling with it, but eventually he needed Griffon’s help to cross.

“Thank you,” he said once he landed safely at the other side.

“No problem.” As V was fearing, Griffon didn’t leave it at that and continued talking with a casual tone after a small pause. “But just out of curiosity, did something happen between—”

“No.”

“Wow, okay, _definitely_ something happened between the kid and you. Jeez, we only look away one second and you get into a fight. You two are exhausting.”

V threw a pointed glance first at Griffon, who now was flying next to him, and then at Shadow, who growled in agreement.

“My thoughts exactly.”

He hoped that his sarcastic reply was enough to indicate his familiars he wanted to drop the subject, but it caused the opposite effect since it only made them to step in his way. V closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath to try to control his irritation, but the last was still present in the reasonable tone he used next.

“Shall I remind you that time is pressing and we have a Qliphoth root to destroy?”

“Nope, we know we don’t have much time.” Griffon’s tone turned more serious. “And precisely for that, we don’t want to see you and the brat wasting it by acting weird around each other again. We’ve already had plenty of that during the past month and it was _stressing_ to watch so speak up, why did you fight?”

As usual Shadow remained silent, but the way the panther’s eyes fixed insistently on him let V know the feline shared Griffon’s opinion. V exhaled a resigned sigh, knowing by then how stubborn their familiars could be, and that they wouldn’t stop until he spoke.

Of course, he would always have the ultimate power to make them obey, and the option of forcing them to come back was always there. He had needed to make use of it in certain occasions, during the journey. However, in retrospect V had discovered that having listened to them in those occasions would have probably been more beneficial than trying to deal with everything alone, as usual. Besides, since the presence of his familiars was not going to last forever, perhaps he should make the most of that opportunity to accept their not-asked, forceful advices as long as they were still there.

Fearing that the last ironic thought could easily turn into a bittersweet one, V sat down on the edge at the side of the road, a few meters before the blocked path they would need to open later.

“We didn’t fight,” V eventually said, placing the cane between his slightly parted legs to lean his hands on it. “Actually, it was just the opposite.”

Griffon posed on the railway on his left and tilted his head to look at him.

“So you finally made up?”

Shadow surprised V by using his tail to signal at his neck. V automatically snapped a hand against the zone, provoking Griffon to caw a laugh.

“Ohoho, I see you did!” V glared at the bird but this one simply laughed even louder before talking with a confused tone. “But I don’t understand. If you are fine, why don’t you look fine at all?”

V averted his eyes to look in front of him again.

“I’ve been thinking—”

He was interrupted by Griffon huffing.

“Bad start.” V deadpanned at Griffon, who made a gesture that tried to mimic a shrug. “What? It’s been proved nothing good comes from that.”

“Well, pardon me if living a brainless life is not my style.”

“Thank goodness it’s not, we already have your boyfriend for that. What I mean is that you think _too much_ , but go ahead. Prove me I’m wrong.”

V stopped looking at Griffon and exhaled a sigh, trying to put order in the mess inside his head before talking. However, when he eventually spoke, he was more talking to himself than to his familiars.

“By basing on incorrect assumptions Nero reached the conclusion that this is not my real form, and assured me that no matter who I was, he would always be there for me.”

There was another pause, more shocked than the previous one.

“Okay, and how is it that you aren’t making cartwheels out of relief? I mean, isn’t that exactly what you wanted?”

Against his will, Griffon’s choice of words put a small smile in his face.

“It is. And I was relieved. He is confident we will succeed in our mission, and that everything will keep being the same after we do so.” V’s eyes shifted downwards and his fingers grabbed the cane more tightly without realizing because of the nervousness. “But if there are complications, if something unexpected happens and returning to Urizen doesn’t go as planned, it’s not guaranteed he will fulfill that promise. And even if we succeed, I can’t be certain that he still chooses to stay. He believes that defeating Urizen will be the ending of whatever is happening to me, but it will only be the start. And if I reborn as I’m supposed to, if I become Vergil again, how can I be sure that he will still recognize me? That he will still...”

“...love you?” Griffon completed when he hesitated, since saying that reality aloud was something he still found difficult to do. “He will.”

V chuckled shallowly when his familiar stated that with conviction, causing Shadow to nod in the same way.

“I wish I could have your confidence.”

“Then have it, damn it.” Griffon flapped his wings with emphasis, disheveling his hair and forcing V to retire it from his face. “And what if your appearance changes and your thirst of power increases a little? You two have gone through a lot together, so that bond you’ve created won’t ever break!”

“Dante and I were tied by blood,” V found himself snapping bitterly while shifting his body towards Griffon, causing this one to shut up instantly. “We always knew what the other one felt, since we were little. We couldn’t stop fighting, or competing, but wanting it or not, I could perfectly know how he was. There wasn’t a bond stronger than that. And even after separating, I always knew he was alive. I always _felt_ it, and I thought it was the same for him. But when Mundus enslaved me, when he turned me into _that thing_ , my own brother didn’t recognize me. He killed me as if I was a common enemy instead of his sworn one. So even if I trust Nero, and as much as I want to believe he will be there for me, how can I be sure he won’t move on and forget about me, like Dante did?”

The silence that fell after his words was longer than the previous one, which allowed V to recover his breath after the sudden outburst.

“Wow,” Griffon eventually said, still looking a little shocked. “I didn’t know you felt that way about Dante.”

V took a deep breath and leaned both of his hands on the cane again.

“Me neither,” and it was the truth. He was quite surprised by the resentment his words had carried. Up till then, Vergil had never acknowledged to blame Dante for what happened in Mallet. It was the first time he admitted it to himself, going as far as expressing it aloud.

“Well, I don’t know Dante that much, since when we met, we didn’t exactly talk. But I have come to know Nero, and I repeat you’re just overthinking,” Griffon insisted stubbornly, not allowing him to protest before continuing. “Look, I know that your trusting issues won’t disappear overnight. Maybe they’ll never do. But come on, V, have you already forgotten that the kid literally ran from one city to the other in order to find you? Do you really think that someone who does that won’t be with you until the end?”

V kept looking in Griffon’s direction but his mind was elsewhere.

“Well, according to Nico, he was supposed to be with that woman until the end. It was supposed to last forever, but it didn’t.”

“Exactly, which only confirms my theory that what that brat and you have is _and_ will ever be stronger than anything else, since I doubt that you allow someone to interfere between Nero and you. I mean, poor of the fool who tries.”

“Yes, certainly that person would desire not having been born, but what if I die?”

V tried to spell the whole sentence in the same casual manner, but something in his tone or expression while formulating the last question must have betrayed the apprehension, because Griffon’s tone sounded softer when talking next.

“That won’t happen. As I’ve said before I’m not planning to die aaand for that to happen _you_ have to live.” He tilted his head. “But in the extremely improbable case that such a thing happens, you among all people should know that some feelings stay even after death, more powerful than ever.”

Griffon’s words mixed with the way Shadow rubbed his head against his knee reassuringly caused V to gulp while averting his eyes. His chest felt tight for a moment when Griffon’s words made him think about his mother, but the distress he had been feeling since he abandoned the van was slowly vanishing, because Griffon was right. More than thirty years had passed since Vergil lost his mother, but his love for her hadn’t decreased even one bit, but just the opposite.

V planned to survive at any cost, since giving up wasn’t something the Sparda Family had ever done. But still, the realization that death wouldn’t be enough to destroy his ties with Nero provided him with a comfort than he could have never expected to need.

“So? Any other dumb doubt that we need to dispel or we can proceed before Urizen becomes unstoppable?”

V snorted softly at Griffon’s mocking comment and stood up to keep walking towards their objective.

“It was you the one who insisted on asking.”

He bit back a smirk when he heard Griffon exhale an outraged gasp behind him.

“Okay, it’s decided. This is the last time I worry about you; you hear me? And when another bridge falls, you better run faster because I’m not catching you.”

V chuckled quietly, because despite his threat Griffon didn’t hesitate on perching on his left arm when he extended it horizontally.

“I believe there won’t be more bridges up ahead, so I think I’ll be safe.”

“That was just an example, you smartass!” Griffon exhaled a defeated sigh when V’s smirk widened. “Damn, the next time I make a contract with someone I’ll be sure to read the small print.”

Needless to say, Griffon’s protests didn’t stop him from keeping assisting V in battle and keeping him out of danger. They had to make a detour to reach the Burrow Market, since several exits were blocked due to the debris or by roots that would take too much to destroy. There were several people petrified around the area, an indication that the root he was looking for was rather close.

V was about to proceed when he pinpointed a booth next to a graffiti-covered wall.

“A phone...I wonder if I can reach that woman.” He wasn’t sure if Nico would agree to also take a look at his cane, but he decided to try nevertheless. “Come meet me. I’m at—”

“ _Yeah yeah yeah, keep your panties on. I see ya already. Be right there!_ ”

V hadn’t taken Nico’s words literally, so he was startled when not even a minute later the van appeared out of nowhere. He didn’t know Nico well enough to know if she was usually _that_ loud while driving or if she was actually having problems to maneuver, so he preferred not to risk and command Shadow so that the panther stopped the vehicle from keeping flying uncontrollably, making it land brusquely but in one piece on the ground.

“Wow, good move, man!” Nico sneaked her head through the window to look at him. “But you didn’t need to use your pets, you know? I had everything under control.”

The woman looked rather convinced, but that didn’t prevent V from raising a skeptic eyebrow while approaching the left side of the car, all his tattoos again on his skin since his familiars had returned to him once again.

“If you say so.” Before Nico could insist on her claim, he continued, “I was wondering if the granddaughter of the Legendary Gunsmith could take a look at my cane. It would be an honor to behold her genius in action.”

Nico hummed to herself before smiling widely, pointing at V with an almost consumed cigar.

“Irony aside, it’s good to hear some fancy praise for a change instead of the usual barks about how expensive and ‘little durable’ my stuff is, so come in, man: show me your stick.” The grimace she made told V she hadn’t used those unfortunate words on purpose. “Okay, _that_ has sounded gross. Pretend you haven’t heard it.”

When he entered the vehicle, Nico had already rushed towards her workspace, and didn’t waste a single second in eagerly taking his cane when he left it on the table. She examined it thoroughly with an expression of concentration on her face. She muttered some things to herself in a rapid tone that V didn’t manage to understand before finally looking at him.

“Oookay, I think I can figure something out to make this babe a little more powerful. I’m more used to mechanical work and here I’ll have to take a more chemical approach to lengthen and strengthen the demonic power it uses. I think I have all I need to work, so give me an hour and I will have the upgrade ready. And now sorry, I’ve tried, but I can’t resist anymore: _that’s_ a hickey, right?”

It took V a moment to understand that Nico had suddenly changed topic, and that in the middle of the explanation she had used his own cane to signal at the mark Nero had left on his neck.

V stared at the woman in disbelief for some seconds before finally recovering enough to speak.

“Are you usually that direct with all the people you’ve barely met?”

“Nope, just with the ones I’m interested in.” V’s quirked up eyebrow made Nico shake her free hand impatiently. “Hey hey, don’t raise your hopes up, dude. I have a pair of nice functional eyes and I can see you’re hot and all that buuuut not exactly my cup of tea. Sorry.”

“Well, no one would say that with the indecent proposition you made me before.”

“Another word and I’m not improving your stick—your cane, dammit!”

Nico exhaled an exasperated sigh while V concealed a small smile, noting himself a win for being able to get on that woman’s nerves when Nero couldn’t even get close to do it.

“Anyway, you don’t have to answer if you don’t wanna, but Nero insists that you don’t have a girlfriend and I’d love to prove him once again how obtuse he is so,” Nico offered V an expectant look, “can you tell me who is the lady to tease that idiot, pretty please?”

V considered his options. On the one hand, he was curious to see what face Nico would make in case he answered with a simple ‘that idiot is the lady’. However, considering how afraid the devil hunter was of the woman’s reaction, he decided to leave Nero the pleasure of delivering the news himself.

“Well, he is right indeed. There isn’t any woman involved.”

Nico snorted.

“Come on, you want me to believe it was a demon the one who…?” The way she interrupted herself before snapping a hand against her forehead told V she had finally realized what he meant. “Gosh, my genius has just lost several points.”

V chuckled because the exasperation in Nico’s voice was real.

“Well, if you make me a discount, I will keep to myself that Nero was in fact right.”

Nico barked a laugh and returned her cane to him.

“I will, in exchange for behaving like a close-minded old-hag.” V was about to leave the van when she talked again. “And you sure you don’t wanna bring your man to the party? If he leaves those marks, he must be half-decent at kicking those demons’ asses.”

V turned around, offering Nico a cryptic smile.

“He is. In fact, he is fighting too as we speak.”

“No shit, really?” Nico’s eyes brightened. “Then you better talk to him about me! You have to totally tell him I’m the best craftswoman of the whole city. Hell, of the whole damn world, and that he won’t regret my services.”

Before V had the chance of raising the bet and say she had already worked with ‘his man’, a loud explosion was heard coming from the direction that Nero had taken.

“Okay, I think that idiot may need my help soon.” She ran towards the driver seat and waved her hand goodbye when he stepped down. “See ya around, V! Make sure to have the cash ready for the next time we meet.”

V bowed his head a little towards Nico and observed the vehicle disappear down the street, destroying everything in her way. Griffon waited until the van was out of sight to manifest next to him, probably wanting to avoid that Nico messed with him again. The bird looked at the destruction of broken tables and umbrellas she had left behind and snorted.

“Jeez, that woman is even more destructive than Urizen. I wouldn’t want to get on her bad side.”

V suppressed a resigned sigh. Considering the fond way Nico had talked about Nero’s former fiancée it was evident she also held that woman dear, so probably at some point he would be involved in a new conversation that, for sure, wouldn’t be as relaxed as the one they had shared.

He was about to tell Griffon about such an outcome when a particularly big tentacle emerged from the base of the root, forcing the familiar to take him out of the way. He had barely landed on one knee and was raising his face from the ground when something else emerged from the main root.

“You dodged me!” the big, parasitic demon exclaimed with an excessively frustrated tone. “Did you dodge me!?”

“Urgh, Nidhogg,” Griffon said in disgust, landing on his left arm again as V assessed their current situation. “I never liked this guy.”

“You pest. Do I know you?”

“Dumb as a box of rocks. Let’s not even mess with this guy, V. He can’t even leave the Qliphoth, anyway. Just a Qliphoth parasite.”

The warning V was about to give Griffon about keeping his voice low arrived too late.

“Did you insult me?!”

“—Uh-oh.”

“You insulted me!”

“I think he heard me...and he’s angry!”

V had to rapidly step to his right to avoid the new attack of the root as this one slammed against the ground, ending with his back turned to the demon.

“I’m going to kill you!”

He exhaled a resigned sigh and slowly turned around in order to quickly finish off that fool, while thinking that as much as he had appreciated Griffon’s previous chat, definitely the bird still had to learn from Shadow when it was better to keep his mouth shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter and the next are from V's POV but then we'll shift back to Nero finally telling Nico about the breakup. Poor thing ^^U


	5. Mission 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Specially short chapter ahead, since I don't cover the full mission 5 of the game so that the story has some coherence :)

**_June 15 - 7:27 a.m._ **

V rapidly raised an arm in an attempt to protect himself from the debris falling from the upper level. He looked up towards the hole that had opened under their feet, whey they were forced to run away from the massive demon that had suddenly appeared after they defeated Nidhogg, and whose movements made all their surroundings tremble.

“Hah! We’re alive, we made it!” Griffon exhaled with relief, flying some meters over him. “It’s our lucky day, V! Let’s go find a game of cards.”

While Griffon spoke too enthusiastically, clearly glad to still be alive, V leaned his left elbow on his flexed knee and looked towards his left.

“This Qliphoth roots...They’re everywhere."

“Well, we ARE underground,” Griffon pointed out ironically while he stood up.

“Then I guess we have some clearing up to do.”

“And me without my garden shears.”

V snorted softly at Griffon ironic comment while proceeding forward.

“At the end, you fulfilled your threat of not catching me,” he commented, obtaining a predictable huff from the bird.

“I could barely avoid that beast myself!” The familiar briefly interrupted his speech to destroy some bloody roots that were in the way before continuing talking. “Jeez, that damn tree is surely causing trouble.”

“Were you expecting it would be easy?” V inquired, watching his step not to trip while pushing in the back of his mind that, perhaps, Nero wasn’t entirely wrong when commenting his shoes weren’t the most suitable to go for that kind of areas.

“No, but not that difficult,” Griffon protested, before exhaling a resigned sigh. “But you right: it _couldn’t_ be easy if Vergil is involved.”

“Are you insinuating I am difficult?”

“Nope, I’m clearly saying it.”

V couldn’t retort anything against Griffon’s definitive claim, since from then on their advance was plagued with fights and they couldn’t waste their breaths in pointless conversation. Fortunately, the battles they came across weren’t particularly difficult until they reached the warehouse area and an Empusa Queen appeared.

The vision of the insectoid demon provoked V to clench his teeth, since it made him remember certain parts of the past month journey which weren’t entirely pleasant. That was probably the reason why he finished the demon off with even more cruelty than usual. He made sure to bring it to the ground in a position of complete submission in order to dig his cane, twisting it painfully before breaking his body open with a swift slice of his cane.

“Wow,” Griffon commented after seeing the display. “Someone needed to release some anger, huh?”

V simply leaned against one of the containers filling the room, his breathing a little labored after the fight.

“Not really,” he eventually answered, his tone slightly panting. “Let’s say it was an itch that had to be scratched.”

Griffon simply nodded in understanding while V allowed himself some minutes of resting. It was the first time he defeated that kind of demon in his own. During their journey, he and Nero had come across them twice, and in both occasions, it had been the devil hunter the one who had taken care of it. So, even if he still needed a second encounter to feel completely satisfied, at least he was glad to discover he wasn’t as weak to need Nero’s constant help.

In fact, there was no trace of the exhaustion that had him bedridden some days ago after his sudden fainting, so who knows: perhaps he had been worrying for nothing, and still had more time than he thought.

They continued advancing and, at some point, some debris began to fall from above as a result of that colossal demon going rampant over them. In more than one occasion one of the creature’s limbs had suddenly emerged from the ceiling, forcing them to attack it until it disappeared. It seemed that it was going to happen again, so V got read to summon Shadow in order to deal with it.

His prediction failed this time, and when the dust that had risen was dispelled, he could see Nero standing at ground level, sword resting on his shoulder as every time the devil hunter took a momentary rest during a long battle.

“What’re you doing down there?”

Nero’s tone sounded mainly surprised, but also carried a hint of relief that told V the boy was glad to see him safe and sound. He was still checking that there wasn’t a single new scratch in Nero that hadn’t been there before when Griffon talked mockingly.

“You didn’t think you did that all by yourself, did ya?”

As usual, Nero teasing Griffon by calling him chicken caused this one to turn instantly offended. V placed his cane in front of the bird, preventing this one from completing the insult.

“I’ll leave this beast to you,” he simply said, since he doubted it was wise to chit-chat when that demon was around. “I must press on.”

He heard Nero saying something that sounded like one of his typical taunts, and this time he rolled his eyes when hearing the word ‘cockroach’ falling from Nero’s lips, an improper appellative that was for sure addressed at the creature which was causing all that devastation.

“Well, at least he’s not _all_ talk,” Griffon commented when seeing the face V had showed, “and he definitely knows how to use his swords.”

V frowned when hearing the bird using that last term in plural, since as far as he was concerned the only blade Nero used was the one the boy called Red Queen. He was about to point that out when he noticed the mocking expression Griffon was displaying, which caused him to roll his eyes _again_ , understanding a little too late the bird’s innuendo.

“Hehehe, something to add, V~?”

The invoker was about to summon Griffon back for indirectly bringing up a topic that was absolutely none of his concern when a better idea came to him.

“I do,” he said with his best casual tone. “For sure you would taste like chicken.”

V chuckled to himself with satisfaction when, after exhaling an outraged gasp, Griffon came back to him on his own volition, which made him realize that he had been underestimating the power of that simplistic method all that time.

* * *

The peace that Griffon’s absence provoked only lasted some scarce minutes, since they had to keep fighting their way through until finally reaching an open area.

“Woohoo! Finally outside! And look at that, a phone!”

V remembered that Nico had promised she would have the improvement of the cane ready for the next time they met. Needless to say, he hadn’t had the chance to stop by a cashier to get the money, but he hoped his words were enough to convince the woman of paying after getting the upgrade.

He entered the booth, marked the memorized number, and just needed to wait for two tones before the call was picked.

“Hey. I could use a hand.”

Nico groaned with impatience at the other side before answering with a serious tone that didn’t quite suit her.

“You got it. Wait right there.”

When noticing the obvious annoyance her words held, V thought for a moment that perhaps he should have waited more to call Nico’s assistance, since Nero was facing that colossal demon and therefore he could need her help more than him, but he eventually decided that he had done the correct thing. After all, Nero had looked as if he had everything under control, and if Qliphoth roots kept manifesting in such powerful forms, V better be as prepared as he could.

Of course, he would keep avoiding as many unnecessary confrontations as possible. His new condition had allowed him to learn that, sometimes, retreating from certain battles was the wisest thing to do, the only way to survive. His current vessel was way more fragile than his original body, so trying to break his way through Urizen with brute force alone was something reckless and totally out of his current possibilities.

However, experience had taught him that depending only on his luck was even more stupid. For sure, sooner or later, he would face a situation where fighting was unavoidable, so he preferred to have all the weapons at his disposal by when that moment came.

Since last time it only took Nico a few seconds to appear, V remained standing while waiting for the woman’s noisy arrival. When five minutes had passed and there was no trace of the rocking van, V decided to sit on the ground instead. He put himself all the comfortable he could, back rested against the booth and right leg flexed under his left. He kept the cane leaning on the ground and closed his eyes with the intention of resting his eyesight for a moment.

He realized he had dozed off without noticing when the ground shaking startled him awake. The tremor had been lighter than the ones produced by that gigantic demon, which made him use his cane to hit the booth twice, in order to warn Shadow lying on the top of it.

The panther growled, indicating he was ready to help Nico ‘park’ her car again, and remained in alert while V approached the more open area. Their preparation turned to be unnecessary this time, since the van literally appeared from the underground.

A soft chuckle escaped V when the sudden apparition of the car scared Shadow, causing his familiar to jump and adopt an attacking stance with the hair of his back standing slightly up, conforming spikes.

“Easy there.” He rubbed Shadow’s head, causing the panther to relax again, his orange eyes stopping glaring at the vehicle to half-close in content when V kept with his ministrations, “she is dangerous indeed, but not our enemy.”

V took Shadow’s purr as agreement and separated from him with a small smirk before approaching the vehicle. He stepped inside, approached the driver seat, and found himself tensing, his recent remark about Nico rapidly losing strength when detecting a clear dangerous aura coming from the woman.

“Okay, V...” The woman shifted her body to be resting her feet on the space between the front seats, leaned her left elbow on the wheel, and signaled at the van’s sofa with her eyes before digging her glare on him. “Take a seat. We need to talk about ‘your man’.”

V stood there in silence for a moment, took a deep breath, and fulfilled the woman's petition with resignation.

Well, the good news was that Nero had been truth to his word and had told Nico about them.

The bad news was that, apparently, he was about to face a battle which, this time, he definitely couldn’t run away from.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, Nico is going to have THE TALK with both Nero and V in the following chapters xDD  
> Any bets about which one goes worse? ^^U


	6. Mission 6

**_June 15 - 7:07 a.m._ **

After Nico shouted, clearly in shock, Nero got prepared to defend himself, being it to avoid a punch, a knee in his balls, or both. Knowing Nico, probably it would be both.

However, the craftswoman simply stood there without moving, not making any attempt to carry out any kind of violent action. And when, finally after several seconds, she suddenly burst out laughing, it was Nero’s turn to look at the woman in stupor, since _that_ was the last reaction he was expecting to receive.

"Wow, that was a pretty good one," she said, still between laughs. "Shit, you've almost got me there! You even managed a veery credible serious face. Good job, man!”

Nero stared at Nico, dumbfounded, while this one shook her head with a smile and came back to her workspace, finally realizing that his friend (and perhaps future ex-friend) hadn’t believed him.

Well... _shit_.

“Nico, it’s not a joke,” he insisted, rapidly following her as she situated behind her desk. “I’m serious. I broke up with Kyrie.”

The woman hummed, not convinced at all.

“You know, that’s how I know you’re lying.” Nero gulped when Nico distractedly pointed at him with a wrench, unable not to think a scared ‘ _And now she’s armed. Great_ ’. “See, if you'd said instead: ‘Kyrie has left me’, then I’d probably have believed it. ‘Cause no offense, dude, but if there’s someone who can screw things up between you two, it’s clearly you.”

Nico had a big damn point there. Nero had never held the slightest doubt that, in case of ever breaking up with Kyrie, it’d be his fault, not hers. And it had been like that, eventually.

Nero took a deep breath, scratched the back of his head, and slowly released the air. Shit, this was gonna probably hurt.

“You right,” he admitted while Nico was about to happily come back to her last work. “It’s my fault we aren’t together anymore.”

Nico hummed again before raising her eyes from her new design of devil breaker. She smiled at him sardonically, showing that she was only playing along.

“Okay, and what did you do to fuck everything up so much?”

“I fell in love with V.”

This time, Nico didn’t laugh. The mocking smile kept being in her face though, as if she was waiting for Nero to finally admit he was joking.

However, when several seconds passed and Nero didn’t do anything to deny it, Nico finally seemed to realize that he was being serious. At that moment, her smile vanished, her eyes snapped open, and despite his reflexes Nero could barely crouch in time to avoid the wrench that ended flying mere centimeters over his head.

“N-Nico, wait!” Nero managed to say before being forced to avoid a heavy-looking hammer.

“I felt there was something wrong with Kyrie,” Nico angrily said, reaching for her next weapon: a pair of pliers. “Last time we talked I felt she wasn’t feeling right, but she didn’t tell me anything and now it turns out it was because of his asshole, cheating boyfriend.”

“Nico, look, I can explain—”

“Oh, can you?!” she sarcastically drawled while Nero was forced to stick to the bathroom wall to avoid the new tool by a really short margin. “So you’re _really_ gonna try to justify that you cheated on Kyrie?! Shit, how damn low can you fall, huh?!”

The space was so narrow that Nero couldn’t easily avoid the following metallic pieces Nico was violently throwing at him, so he simply covered his face and turned his body so that most of the projectiles impacted against his back.

“I didn’t cheat on Kyrie” Nero cursed when something impacted against the back of his head, which prompted him to reach for a close folded chair to use it as an improvised (useless) shield. “It’s true we kissed when I was still with her, but I came back to her before—”

“Before what? Before _properly_ fucking that gothic magician?” Nico snapped, switching to her reserve of recently created devil arms when she ran out of components to throw. “Then I guess you deserve a damn medal.”

“I don’t,” Nero muttered, remembering how broken Kyrie had looked when he confessed his feelings for V, despite her attempts of looking composed. “I know I hurt her, and I feel like crap because of it.”

Nico snorted again, finally stopping throwing arms at him to cross her own, allowing Nero to release the chair to face the enraged woman.

“Well, at least you have the balls to admit _that_. Now you just have to admit being a fucking jerk that couldn’t keep his dick inside his pants.”

“I’m not,” Nero said, his tone sounding offended next. “Fuck, Nico, do you really think I’d do that to Kyrie? That I’d simply sleep with V because I was horny or some shit like that? Damn, that’s not how I am, and you know it.”

Nico stared at him in silence for a moment, breathing laboredly, before exiting the workspace to approach him.

“So what? You really wanna me to belive you ‘fell in love’ with a random stranger in _JUST_ a damn month?”

She got so close that Nero could feel the woman’s crossed arms against his chest, but he kept his stance firm. A dangerous aura surrounded her, but Nero didn’t get intimidated by it: now, all the fear he had been harboring towards the woman was replaced by the determination of proving her that he wasn’t the jerk she believed he was.

So, he sustained Nico's glare and nodded.

“Yes.”

Nico stared at him for a long second before exhaling an incredulous, humorless laugh. She grabbed the front of his sweater and spun him around to slam him against her workspace.

He could have done something to avoid it, since in terms of physical strength he surpassed her, but he let her do it.

He knew this would happen. He knew how fond Nico was on Kyrie. They had barely met a year ago, but they had become really good friends. They were like sisters, so it was logical that she was so angry at him for having deeply hurt someone she cared about so much.

“Do you have _any_ idea about how damn worried she was about you when you left?” she snapped. “She never liked the idea of you leaving for so long, but she accepted it because she trusted you. She _always_ trusted you, and loved you. Shit, I swear I ain’t never met someone who loved another person so unconditionally as she loved you.”

Nero gulped softly, listening to Nico say all those things that he already knew, and that still made him feel guilty sometimes.

“Fuck, she even went to see you when you were injured,” Nico continued, increasing the grip on Nero’s sweater. “She felt super guilty for leaving the kids with me, but she took a shitty, night bus and spent hours travelling just to reach you. You were so fucking important to her that she put you above everyone else. And now you go and say that _that_ isn't enough? That you have fallen for someone else? Damn it, can you honestly say that V would do _all that_ for you?”

Nero sustained Nico’s gaze while thinking back to his journey with V: he remembered their visit to Mallet Island, when he was poisoned by those spiders in that mirrored dimension and V used their whole antidote on him, at risk of his own wellbeing; he remembered the demons attacking that village, when V went alone to kill that Angelo knight because he wanted to avoid that more lives were lost, including his; he remembered when they found the manuscript that would finally lead them to find something important about Urizen and V chose to protect him, putting him over the mission he had always claimed to prioritize.

“Yes. I know he would.”

Nico’s eyes opened a little more with surprise, probably not having expected his unwavering confidence, and he made the most of the woman’s light hesitation to continue talking.

“Listen, Nico, I know this isn’t fair for Kyrie. You always said that I didn’t deserve her, and I’ve always thought you were right. And I know how much Kyrie loved me. Damn, I loved her too, and I still care about her. I’ll always do. And probably if V hadn’t appeared, we’d still be together.”

Nico’s eyes kept fixed on him with seriousness, attentive to each one of his words.

“But he appeared,” Nero continued. “And as I told Kyrie, I wasn’t looking for this to happen. I wasn’t looking for falling in love, not me and _much less_ him. But it happened. And I know a month is too little time to know someone, and there’s still a lot of things I should know about V that I don’t know. So, Kyrie is in her right to hate me for it, and you’re in your right to be upset. And if you want to stop helping me right here right now for this, I’d understand.”

He took a deep breath, while finally saying the last part of that improvised speech that he hadn’t thought to give that day.

“And I know this is gonna make me look like an even bigger asshole. And that probably I’d end with a devil breaker attached to something that isn’t my arm. But as much as I hate having hurt Kyrie, I _don’t_ regret having broken up with her. I _don’t_ regret having chosen V. And if the chance presented again, I know I’d do it again. Because I know V loves me, I know I love him, and I’m sorry, but that’s the most important thing for me right now.”

The silence that fell between them was long, and heavy, but Nero somewhat felt that the tension of the whole conversation had considerably decreased, and when Nico talked again, she still sounded serious, but way more calmed.

“Damn. You _really_ are serious about him, ain’t ya?” She sighed, finally releasing him to talk with a reluctant tone, more to herself than to him. “Well, I guess love isn’t an exact science. It’d be nice though, that it was as easy as crafting: every piece has its proper place to fit and that’s all. Zero complications.”

Nero crossed his arms too, continuing lying against the worktable.

“Yeah, but if that were true, your weapons would never break, and you’d never need any spare pieces.” He pointedly looked at the floor. “And with all the stuff you’ve thrown at me, I’d say you have _a bunch_ of them.”

Nico snorted, crossing her arms.

“Jeez, look at you: using metaphors and all. That’s that gothic’s bad influence for sure.”

The comment could look joking, but it was evident that she hadn’t accepted completely the fact that he and V were now together, which caused Nero to look at Nico hesitantly.

“So, what’ll you do now?” Nico frowned, not understanding what he meant. “Will you come back to Fortuna?”

Nico looked at him as if he was dumb. Then she huffed and punched his arm.

“Sorry, but you’re not getting rid of me so easily. I may not like _and_ much less trust that walking mystery you have as a boyfriend now, but I promised I’d stick with you, and that’s exactly what I’m gonna do. Although,” Nico smiled devilishly, “maybe the prices are a little higher.”

For probably the first time, Nero didn’t protest about it, feeling relieved that she had decided to tag along.

“I’ll be sure not to break the ones I have then.”

Nico snorted.

“We’ll see about it.” At that moment Lady muttered something in dreams, and although Nero was about to approach her Nico stopped him, snapping a hand against his chest while signaling towards the floor with her free one. “Wow, stop right there: this mess isn’t gonna clean alone.”

“Hey, but it was you the one who—” Nero shut up when Nico half-closed her eyes menacingly. “I’m on it.”

Nico smiled charmingly at him when he hurriedly added the last part, and mockingly patted the top of his head twice.

“Atta boy.”

It took him his good 10 minutes to gather all the tools, components and devil breakers. When the last element was returned to its place, he came back to the front to find Nico about to examine Lady, who still looked dead asleep. The craftswoman rapidly shooed him away, so he sat down on the copilot seat while observing the woman work.

“You sure you know what you’re doing?” he skeptically asked when seeing Nico having trouble in finding Lady’s pulse on her throat.

“Hey, this gal’s been taking care of herself since she was a birb. I know what I’m doin’.”

“Okay, and what’s the diagnosis? Will she wake up soon?”

Nico arranged the blanket covering Lady and stood up again.

“Well, she ain’t dead. Got a pretty smokin’ body, though.”

Nero stared at Nico. It was the second time that the woman hinted interest in Dante’s friend, and his suspicions just grew when she rapidly began to give excuses.

“Not that I was—barely even noticed,” Nico rapidly changed the topic. “You know, you should go do your thing. I got this.”

Nico was right. They had wasted enough time already with chit-chat and those roots weren’t going to disappear on their own, so he nodded.

“Yeah." he had barely stood up when the whole vehicle trembled, causing him and Nico to be about to lose balance. “What the hell?”

He leaned his left hand on the headrest of the driver seat to look through the front window, in time to witness an armored leg stomping on the ground.

“Whoa...He’s too big to leave alone. I better take care of it.” He rapidly turned around and passed Nico. “Stay alert.”

Nero stepped down the street and drew his sword. He had barely started running towards the demon when this one noticed his presence. The creature began to throw several beams towards Nero’s direction, forcing him to avoid them by sliding on the ground. Doing that was a piece of cake though, since he had a proper open space to avoid the projectiles. Not like inside Nico’s van, he thought self-mockingly.

Once he was close enough, after leaving a trace of broken asphalt behind, Nero realized that there was a bloody, pulsating core on the demon’s back, surely his weak point, so he devoted all his efforts to make the demon fall in order to reach it.

The battle wasn’t particularly difficult, but it was long and tedious. The creature’s thick skin was tough, so taking down his legs wasn’t a simple task even with Red Queen charged at its maximum. The good news was that the demon couldn’t hit him as long as he stayed under it.

It took him almost 15 minutes to make it kneel. The core was thicker than in looked at first glance, not to mention that when stepping on his back he was within range of the beast’s shots once again. It took him several minutes of avoiding the beams and hitting the core to cause the demon to finally fall stunned on the ground.

He was about to continue the assault when part of the ground broke, revealing the underground road under them, together with V and Griffon.

“What’re you doing down there?” Nero couldn’t help to ask, since as far as he knew the root V had to destroy was at ground level. At least V looked in pretty good condition, and didn’t look hurt or anything. Also, the fact that just the chicken was invoked proved by the enemies they were dealing with weren’t too dangerous, which was also a relief.

V seemed about to answer but of course Griffon had to run his mouth faster, and as usual, Nero was unable to refrain himself from answering the bird. V put an end to the upcoming fight by placing his cane in front of the babbling bird, and when feeling the armored giant recovering behind him, Nero realized too late he had wasted the chance to tell V about his conversation with Nico.

After another 30 minutes of jumping, avoiding shots, and slicing, Nero finally delivered the final blow, causing the demon to growl at the sky while slowing vanishing. He crouched on the ground, needing to rest a little after the long, tiring battle.

“This thing’s a root too,” he muttered to himself, breathing a little laboredly. “What’s going on?”

When V told him that they would be exterminating some roots, he made the mistake of thinking the task would be long but above all easy. However, if stronger and stronger demons kept appearing, maybe stopping that bastard’s resurrection wouldn’t be as immediate.

He was still lost in his thoughts when Nico’s van stopped next to him.

“Yo, Lady’s awake. Got any questions for her, better make it fast.”

“Alright,” he said while standing up.

Nico stopped him hurriedly so that he retrieved a part of the recently killed demon, which conveniently had remained behind so that the woman could play her magic. He did so and returned inside the vehicle, hoping that whatever Lady told them would help them to rescue Dante and Trish.

They needed all the help they could gather after all, or at this rate, maybe they really would run out of time as V hadn’t got tired of repeating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Weeell, Nero didn't die :D Let's hope it's the same for V xDDD  
> Also, in the next chapter the guys will finally meet again after these last chapters of being on their own :)


	7. Mission 7

**_June 15 -_ ** _**8:17 a.m.**_

“Okay, V, take a seat. We need to talk about ‘your man’.”

Nico’s gaze was so intense that it took V a moment to notice Lady’s unconscious figure on the couch. He guessed that asking about the female devil hunter wasn’t the best option. Nico would surely see it as an attempt to divert the topic, so he merely approached the piece of furniture and sat down on the sofa arm furthest from Nico.

Several seconds passed after Nico initiated the conversation, but V hadn’t the least intention of proceeding with it. He limited himself to observe the woman with polite interest, leaning his hands on the cane standing between his legs. After some more seconds, Nero’s friend exhaled an impatient sigh and talked, clearly annoyed for his lack of response.

“So, you’re with Nero now?”

V blinked, tilting his head lightly to the side.

“Shall I presume that’s a rhetorical question?”

Nico snorted loudly.

“Of course it is.”

“In that case I fail to see the point of this conversation,” V commented calmly. “Given your closeness to Nero, I doubt there’s something about him that you ignore.”

“Yeah, and I thought that too, but an hour ago I still thought he was hetero and oh, surprise, now he’s with _you_ , so I think there’s _much_ to talk about.”

“Well, I hope that your intention isn’t to ask about any intimate details, because in that case I will have to refuse sharing them, no matter what a good friend you claim to be of him.”

Nico observed him with her eyes and mouth slightly more opened before snorting again.

“Man, what the hell did he see in you?”

V smiled.

“Besides the physique you mean?”

For the way Nico huffed, it was evident that the woman regretted having called him ‘hot’ in their previous meeting.

“I just don’t get it." Nico ignored his remark and crossed her arms, digging her harsh eyes in him. “He and Kyrie were like the perfect couple. Everyone who knew them, this gal included, were sure they’d always be together. They cared about each other, loved each other, and fuck, the word ‘wedding’ was beginning to ring in their house, ya know?”

As usual, the image, even if just hypothetical, of Nero being together with that woman caused V to grip the cane with more force, even if his expression kept being almost as imperturbable as always.

“And then you appear out of nowhere.” Suspicion appeared both in Nico’s tone and eyes. “A magician with no name and no past: just with his weird poems, his weird tattoos, his weird magic pets, and knowing a lot of stuff that someone normal would never know. And then you decide to go with Nero, a guy you supposedly didn’t know shit about, on a trip together, and when you come back it turns out you’re together. How convenient, huh?”

V’s expression turned surprised at the implications of Nico’s words.

“Are you suggesting that my involvement with Nero responds to some kind of wicked interest?”

Nico remained silent for a moment without averting her eyes from him, evaluating him before talking.

“Maybe. It’s obvious you know more than you’re saying, and I’m sure that you’ve some kind of hidden scheme, but right now I give a damn. What bothers me is that Nero _really_ seems to have the hots for you _._ He defended you fucking tooth and nail, told me he would pick you with zero doubts in case of having to make the choice again, and was super sure of wanting to be with you.”

V’s grip on his cane softened after hearing what Nero had said about them. He couldn’t enjoy the warm relief that invaded him for long, since Nico continued talking with a harsher tone.

“Honestly, I don’t understand that he prefers you over Kyrie, but hey, it’s his life. And if that’s what he really feels, I ain’t nothing to say. _But_ if I discover that you’ve used that dark magic of yours to confuse him or something, Urizen will be nothing compared to what I can do with my sharper tools.”

Needless to say, V didn’t feel the least intimidated for the girl’s threatening words. He was pretty sure that whatever punishment she could come up with, Vergil had experienced it several times worse.

Initially, he was about to say something about the futility of those threats, followed by a reminder that whatever Nero and him shared, it was their business and consequently he didn’t owe her any kind of explanation.

However, there was something that prevented V from answering in the cutting way that he would have surely chosen in case of being complete. And it was that, despite the well gained fame of coldness and cruelty that Vergil had brought upon himself with his decisions and actions, he knew how to read people’s feelings.

If he weren’t able to do so, he wouldn’t have been able to manipulate people at his wish. In fact, the only reason why it had taken V so much to acknowledge his feelings for Nero was the fear of ending hurt in the process. That, and the fact that romantic love was something that he had never experienced until meeting Nero. It had been unknown territory. A battlefield into which he had been unexpectedly thrown, forced to fight without being as prepared as he had always liked to be.

But the feelings emanating at the moment from Nico were clear for V. It was evident that Nico cared about Nero in the same way a sister would do, like a mother would do despite their age difference was practically nonexistent. That was the only kind of protectiveness that V admired, and what encouraged him to reply the craftswoman in a note very different from the one that had initially came to his mind.

“Regarding my powers, I can assure you that mind control does not enter my expertise. So, if you are worried that, in some way, I have influenced Nero so that he feels the way he does towards me, rest assured: his feelings are as real as you and I, and genuine. And so are mine.”

V could have left it at that, but he found himself talking more.

“Also, if it’s any sort of consolation, when starting this journey my only objective when travelling with Nero was to make use of his combat abilities and strength. That was all. Establishing any kind of relationship with him never entered my plans. Such development took me by surprise as much as to him. Though, once said that...” V’s tone, calm until then, acquired a hint of possessiveness that he didn’t find necessary to hide. “I find myself in the duty to tell you that, now that it happened, I couldn’t care less about how ‘fated’ his fiancée and him seemed to be. I’m not going to renounce to Nero, and if someone, no matter who, dares to interfere, all the punishment you can come up with in a lifetime will pale with what I’d do to that person. Have I made myself clear?”

The more he talked, the more opened Nico’s eyes became. Considering the woman’s noisy personality and the fact that she seemed to be in quite good terms with Nero’s former fiancée, V was expecting some kind of back-talk, even an insult. However, after he finished with his threatening argument, Nico simply nodded before exhaling an incredulous short laugh.

“‘Kay, ‘kay, not a bad argument,” she reluctantly admitted, reaching for her packet of cigarettes. “Not gonna lie: I liked his girlfriend better, but as I’ve said it’s his life. And well, if you really love each other, it’s not my call to protest.”

V shifted uncomfortably in his seat, not liking that _that_ word was used so lightly when talking about his feelings towards Nero.

“You haven’t been very difficult to convince,” V commented. “How are you so sure that I’ve not made all that up?”

Nico took a drag of her cigarette and after exhaling the smoke she offered him a confident smile.

“Feminine intuition.” She ignored V’s skeptic raise of eyebrow and pointed at him with her lit cigar. “By the way, is it true that you and that idiot didn’t go to town before breaking up with Kyrie?”

V clicked his tongue, remembering the horrible two days he spent after Nero left with the excuse of training, when actually he was going back to Fortuna to put an end to his romance with that woman. The devil hunter had assured him he would be back but V didn’t believe him then, thinking that the boy had gone for good.

“No. He was faithful to the very end.”

Nico nodded, satisfied, and stood up.

“Cool. He still has shitty taste but at least he’s not a dirty cheater.” Nico surprised V by patting his shoulder when passing by his side. “And now, let’s get to business! Hope you have brought some extra cash.”

V had done so, which was a good idea because the formula Nico had developed to improve his cane had a high price.

“I really hope it’s worth it,” V commented while Nico carefully stored the check he had just gave her in her pocket.

“Oh, don’t worry: it will. I may not like you very much for destroying my friend’s relationship, but I _never_ mix personal business with work. I’m a reeeal professional.”

Her words were snarky, but the teasing they carried proved that the woman was making an effort despite not being completely at ease with Nero’s current romantic situation.

“I’ll let you know the next time we meet.”

He was about to abandon the van when the craftswoman abandoned her workspace.

“Oi, V, one last thing.” He turned around to face Nico, and frowned in alert when seeing her mischievous smirk. “You know, Nero doesn’t know about this, but I was planning to add a pretty cool vibration feature in one of his devil arms. It was going to be for Kyrie for massage purposes so I was going to remove it, but _now_ maybe I keep working on it. I’m sure you’d be able to make a good use of it, huh?”

V blinked slowly, and then adopted his best conversational tone.

“Yes, indeed such functionality could be extremely useful. However, make sure to set different modes. We don’t want that Nero takes more than what he can initially handle, do we?”

V bowed his head towards a slightly blushing Nico and turned around to leave, the grin in his face widening when hearing the shocked curse the woman exhaled before snapping close the door of the van to rush off the place.

“Okay, that grin never bodes well,” Griffon commented the moment he manifested next to him. “What poor soul have you tormented this time?”

“Absolutely none. I merely answered one of Nico’s question.”

“Oh, well, if _that_ ’s the soul you made suffer, well done! That lady gives me the creeps. One of these days she’s really gonna try to cook me.”

“Fear not: I will invoke you back before she can verify if you actually taste like chicken.”

“Ha ha ha, very funny.”

The unexpectedly light mood that had settled only lasted until they proceeded ahead and V was forced to hide in order to avoid Malphas, an old face from the times in which Vergil was still under Mundus’ influence.

The conversation she was having with a potentiated Angelo proved to be quite revealing, and it allowed V to rapidly establish their next objective: to recover the Devil Sword Sparda that she had mentioned, since it seemed to be their best alternative to stop Urizen.

Since his battle against Nidhogg was still recent, V would have liked to avoid the upcoming confrontation against the Angelo, who remained behind after Malphas abandoned the place through a portal. However, the female demon had left the Angelo with the task of destroying the sword, and he couldn’t allow that.

He wasn’t naive. In his current form killing both the Knight and his horse was something out of his possibilities, but even if he couldn’t fully defeat him, he could still damage him enough so that he was forced to retreat, gaining them more time to recover the weapon. For that reason, the fight mainly consisted of him commanding his familiars so that Griffon attacked the weakest spots of the man’s armor while Shadow focused on the horse, playing more defensively and carefully than usual to guarantee that each hit was a critical one.

Eventually, the horse went down, and the Knight received enough harm to abandon the area lumping slightly. V made an attempt to follow him, believing that perhaps they could actually finish him off completely, but his initial assessment of his state proved to be correct, since he only managed one step before falling forward on one knee.

“V!” Griffon said with concern, hurrying to his side while he breathed laboredly, supporting his weight on his cane.

“I’m fine...I must chase him. If the Devil Sword Sparda still exists, it may very well be our only hope.”

As he was expecting, Griffon’s protest did not wait.

“V, uhhh, think about this for a minute now. What will you do if you find it?” Griffon talked while circling around him, the arguments sounding in stereo making more difficult for V to ignored them, which was surely Griffon’s objective. “You gotta be strong in mind and body to wield the Sparda, and you, sir, are neither. Hate to break it to you, but the Sparda will just be too much for ya.”

“For me, yes,” V admitted. “But what of the boy…Nero?”

Griffon shut up at that, still reluctant but showing that such idea wasn’t that absurd. While V recovered his breath, he heard a distant car approaching. The vehicle couldn’t be other than Nico’s van, since Red Grave had been evacuated, but it surprised him the fact that it ended parked at the other side of the corner with unusual care, which let him know that something must have happened, such as Lady waking up.

“Let’s go,” V commented after crouching to recover one of the remaining of the horse had left behind. “Once we are near the Sparda, even I should be able to feel its presence.”

Griffon didn’t comment anything more, though the defeated sigh the bird let out proved what exactly he thought about his plan.

* * *

**_8:52 a.m._ **

Nero had barely entered the van after Nico announced Lady was awake when the craftswoman talked.

“By the way, I talked with your boyfriend.”

He stopped in his tracks, his eyes wide while looking at Nico as this one continued smoking on the driver seat, looking in front of her.

“What? When?”

“He called for assistance when you were fighting that colossus, so I went there for a bit and we talked about...well, your thing.”

Nero sighed and scratched the back of his head awkwardly, not wanting to ask but knowing it would probably be worse not to.

“And?”

Nico let out the smoke slowly and turned her face to look at him while reclining against her seat.

“Well, I _hate_ to admit it, but he really seems to feel the same way about you. He _is_ a little creepy though. Like, VERY creepy, dude. I mean, he sounded pretty ready to kill whoever who tried to take you away from him. I mean, _that’_ s another level of possessiveness, don’t you think—?” Nero really tried _not_ to change his face, but the way Nico tsked told him that he hadn’t done a really good job at it. “Goddess, he has _really_ perverted you, huh? Jeez, I should’ve guessed it when he said that about that vibrator.”

“That V said _what_?”

“Nevermind.” Nico simply smiled him charmingly while eyeing behind her. “Come on: I thought you wanted to talk to Lady.”

Nero _really_ wanted to know what the hell Nico had meant with that sentence, but he was responsible enough to know that time was pressing and that learning what had happened to the others was the priority. Besides, there were high chances that Nico was just messing with him, so he parked that topic for the time being.

When he approached the sofa, Lady was still slowly getting out from her slumber. He took a seat in front of her. He decided to wait for her to straighten to a sitting position on her own instead of helping her do so, since he knew for Dante that using a gentleman gesture with Lady was the same as asking for a bullet in his forehead.

“Where am I?” the woman asked with a tired voice, blinking slowly while looking around a little disoriented.

“Nico’s van,” Nero answered. “We brought you here after getting you out of that flying asshole.”

Lady nodded, still a little weakly.

“Thanks for that.” She exhaled a long sigh. “I guess the others aren’t here yet, right?”

Nero shook his head negatively.

“So what happened to him? And Trish? They ended up like you?”

“Trish, she...She was captured. I remember that. But I don’t know what happened to Dante.”

Nero sighed, leaning forward.

“Dammit.”

He didn’t consider himself someone who let his hopes up too soon, so it wasn’t as if he had expected to learn everything about Dante or Trish. But still, the lack of information was disappointing. The only thing they could deduce was that if Trish had suffered Lady’s same fate, for sure the woman was still alive, but that was all.

At that moment the door of the van opened and V entered. Nero only needed a quick glance to know that V had just gone through a battle. He had travelled and fought alongside him enough to distinguish the invoker’s normal breathing from the one he had after a tough fight, despite V’s attempts of looking perfectly composed.

“You can’t travel through here in a car.”

The fact that V talked without even giving time to ask him anything was another proof of him pretending to be in better shape than he was, but Nero knew the invoker wouldn’t appreciate that he asked about his well-being in front of other people. V didn’t even like when Nero asked when being alone after all.

“Yeah, we know. We're just waiting’ on you. There’s only one way up that tree.” He stood up. “Hang on, I’ll get ready.”

He passed by V to reach Nico’s workspace, in order to get some extra devil arms that of course he had already left paid. He heard V interchange some words with Nico and Lady while he adjusted one of the new arms. When he came back, V stood up from the small stairs where he had sat down, probably to rest. He was about to follow him after taking Red Queen and adjusting it behind his back when Lady talked.

“Shocker...Can we trust him?”

It didn’t take a genius to figure it out who Lady was talking about.

His first impulse was to answer that yes, he could trust V, but that wasn’t what Lady had asked him. And honestly, the same he knew V would never betray him, he couldn’t say the same about someone who wasn’t him. V was a complicated man. He may care about Nero, but that didn’t mean that he also cared about all the people Nero cared about, and the devil hunter knew it. So, he answered in accordance to that while looking at V waiting for him ahead, while giving his slightly hunched back to him.

“Your guess is as good as mine. He might be useful, though.” He looked at Lady to say the next bit. “Enough talking, get some rest. You need it.”

He closed the door of the van behind him and put himself at V’s level.

“So, we’re gonna kick that bastard’s ass already?”

V smiled with amusement, though he didn’t turn his head to look at him.

“Well, if with that expression you mean ‘stopping his resurrection’, yes, we are.” Nero was about to turn to his right when V stopped him with his cane, signaling then in front of them. “It will be better if we go through the subway.”

“Through the subway,” Nero repeated with a tone that indicated what a bad idea he thought it was. “You know it will be infested with those things, right? Won’t it be better if we stick to the surface? We’ll have more room to fight.”

“Normally I would agree with that option, but in case you haven’t realized, it’s starting to rain.”

Nero blinked at the argument before snorting.

“So what? Are you afraid of some rain messing your hair?” he mockingly said, gaining a deserved deadpan expression from V.

“No, but I would prefer that my poetry book wouldn’t end wasted if we have a suitable alternative. However, if you’re not convinced with my proposed route, we can always go separate ways again.”

Nero sighed, but didn’t hesitate in signaling towards the subway entrance.

“Fine, fine, lead the way then.”

He snorted again at V’s slightly pleased smile before following the invoker. As the rest of the town, the entrance was also half-blocked by debris, but they could make their way through an upper opening.

Nero was the first in entering, simply letting himself fall with a jump. He turned around, a smile appearing in his face when seeing V making use of Griffon to reach the ground instead of trying to climb down the debris himself.

“Seriously, what would you do without your pets?”

It wasn’t the first time he teased V about him ‘exploiting’ his familiars, so it took him by surprise the way the invoker tensed completely, together with his next words.

“Apart from being quite useless in battle you mean?”

Nero’s eyes opened more at the sarcastic retort. V must have read what he was thinking because the invoker exhaled a long sigh and talked with a smoother tone.

“I’m sorry. I know you didn’t mean it that way.” V suddenly sat down against one of the fallen stony blocks. “Do you mind if we rest for a bit?”

Nero didn’t know what surprised him more: V apologizing directly or V suggesting to rest.

“Yeah, sure.”

The block wasn’t big enough for them both to sit, so he opted to keep standing next to V while leaning his back against the wall.

“We talked to Lady a little,” he commented, crossing his arms. “She says she doesn’t know what happened to Dante.”

V nodded.

“It’s a pity she doesn’t remember more, but he’s quite stubborn. I honestly doubt he is dead.”

“Yeah, me too. I mean, if he’s still a devil hunter with his age, he can’t be killed that easily.”

There was a small pause.

“You talk as if Dante was extremely old.”

“That’s because he _is_ old.”

“Certainly, he isn’t in his twenties.”

“Nope, and neither in his thirties.”

“But he isn’t _that_ old.”

“Eh yeah, he is. I think he has already reached the fifties.”

“No, he hasn’t.”

“And how the hell do you know that?”

“Because I carefully study the people I hire and I happen to know Dante’s age.”

“Okay, then how old is he?”

“My apologies, but I consider quite tasteless to talk about someone else’s age behind his back.”

Nero snorted, muttering an annoyed ‘ _Whatever_ ’, since he still thought that V knew too much about Dante to be just mere acquaintances.

A new silence fell between them, during which Nero wasn’t sure if bringing that other topic or not. At the end, V saved him from taking that decision.

“So, you finally spoke to Nico about us.” V turned his head to look at him with an amused smile. “Delivering the news was as traumatic as you thought?”

Nero snorted loudly, separating from the wall to bend a little.

“Here.” He grabbed V’s left hand to place it behind his head. "You feel that?”

V frowned, massaging the zone.

“Is that a bump?”

“Yep, courtesy of a wrench.”

The invoker exhaled a surprised chuckle while Nero recovered his position against the wall.

“You have quite an impressive recovery, so I’m sure it will heal soon.”

“Yeah, but it still hurt,” Nero protested. “Seriously, I thought she was gonna kill me.”

“Well, I’m not trying to go against you...”

“Why do I feel that’s precisely what you’re gonna do?”

“...but perhaps if you had told her sooner, such an outcome could have been clearly avoided.”

Nero sighed.

“Yeah yeah, no need to tell me that now.” He looked at V with curiosity. “And what about _your_ talk? She also threw things at you?”

V offered him a lightly superior smile.

“Please, Nero. Unlike you, I know how to properly carry out a conversation without instigating violence.”

Nero barked a laugh.

“Yeah, by scaring people away I bet.”

“I hardly doubt that Nico could be so easily scared.”

“Maybe not ‘scared’, but she was a little worried for my creepy, possessive boyfriend.”

V raised an amused eyebrow.

“She called me that way?”

Nero nodded.

“Yep, she did.” He knew it was probably a bad idea to do what he was going to do, but Nero did it nevertheless. “What did you tell her? To make her say that, I mean.”

V observed him in silence for a moment, his expression unchanged but his green eyes showing that light that didn’t fail to make Nero’s stomach clench a little in anticipation. Still without talking, V rose to his feet, left the cane resting on the block where he had been sitting, and approached Nero until being standing in front of him.

“Nothing you don’t know already, Nero.” The last felt his heart beat a little faster when V placed his hands on his hips while casually saying the next words. “I merely stated that you are mine now, and that whoever says the contrary will pay the consequences.”

Nero gulped thickly, uncrossing his arms to place his hands on V’s hips, mimicking the man’s posture.

“And what about me?” he pressed, legs unconsciously parting so that V could get even closer, his noses now almost brushing. “Do I have anything to say in this?”

V smirked slowly and moved his face to settle his mouth on Nero’s ear, his nose brushing against his cheek in the process, causing Nero to increase his grip on the man’s hips.

“Of course you can, but I think I already know your answer.”

Nero had barely time to feel his member reacting at the velvety whisper when V’s teeth nipped his earlobe.

The simple action was enough to make Nero curse with arousal. He shifted his face to capture V’s mouth, just to discover it wasn’t there anymore, since V pulled back at the last second with a mischievous grin, making Nero groan with exasperation.

“Fuck, don’t you _dare_ leave me hanging like this.”

“Nero, should I remind you that Urizen is waiting ahead?”

“And you couldn’t remember that before provoking me a boner? How the hell am I supposed to fight like this?”

“Well, I believe a skilled devil hunter should be able to fight no matter the circumstances.”

Nero half-closed his eyes at V when this one talked with a patronizing tone.

“Have I ever told you what a bastard you are?”

V chuckled.

“Yes, I recall a couple of occasions when you addressed me in such a way. However, this time I think I’m only delivering an adequate punishment for hiding our situation from your best friend.” Nero was about to heatedly protest when V simply recovered his cane and continued talking. “And now let’s stop wasting time. We hace work to do.”

Nero cursed, brusquely adjusted the front of his pants and passed by V with frustrated, heavy steps.

“Damn, when we kill this bastard, I’m making you pay for this, I swear.”

V chuckled behind him, completely unconcerned.

“One last thing, Nero.”

He sighed with annoyance and turned around brusquely.

“And now what do you want?”

Again, far from feeling worried, V simply approached him to deposit a short but intense kiss in his lips that Nero had barely time to return.

“A small prize for what you said to Nico.”

Despite V’s smile kept being ironic, there was an uncharacteristic warm in his green stare that made Nero’s stomach flutter.

“I’m still making you pay,” he insisted, but his threat was half-hearted and V knew it because he mockingly nodded before finally resuming their walk further inside the subway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And V survived Nico's talk! :D  
> I stopped the chapter in the middle of mission 7 but it was getting too long otherwise xDD


	8. Mission 8 (NSFW)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The rating of the fic has been raised to **E** , just in case someone missed it :P

**_June 15 - 9:22 a.m._ **

Advancing through the subway was as annoying as Nero expected. The enclosed spaces allowed the demons to easily ambush them, and those strange, pulsating portals that occasionally appeared spitting enemies non-stop were a pain in the ass. It was a luck that V had noticed that little detail soon, or they’d have been in serious trouble.

At least, the good news was that the demons they came across were all old acquaintances they had already faced during their trip, so they perfectly knew how to deal with them. It didn’t mean it was easy though. Riots in particular were extremely dangerous to deal with, especially when they appeared in group, and in a couple of occasions V’s familiars had prevented that one of their sharp claws left a pretty nasty mark on his body.

In return, Nero always fought with an eye in the enemy and the other in V, in order to shoot with Blue Rose or his new arm whenever he saw a demon getting too close to the invoker. Their coordination was pretty good, which gained them some mocking comments coming from Griffon about their ‘lovers’ telepathy’ that sadly neither of them could answer back properly, since they didn’t have much time to catch their breath between the fights.

Under normal circumstances they would have reached the other side of the subway in ten minutes, but it took them half-an-hour due to the continuous confrontations. Once they reached the surface and before proceeding further, Nero asked V to stop for a moment to remove his arm.

He hissed in both relief and slightly pain when the mechanical piece was disjointed from his flesh, which made V frown while leaning against the bus next to Nero, mimicking his posture.

“I thought you had got used to it already.”

“Yeah, normally it doesn’t bother me.” Nero rubbed the severed limb in the place where it connected with the devil breaker, massaging the zone. “But I guess I’ve overused it a little.”

A short pause fell, and then V talked with a guilty tone that made Nero look at the invoker in stupor.

“My apologies. I didn’t have that into account when suggesting going through the subway. It was a clear oversight on my part.”

Nero blinked, noticing the dimples that had formed V’s cheeks for the way the invoker was tensing his jaw. He huffed in disbelief and bumped his shoulder against V’s so that the man’s expression changed into a surprised one.

“Hey, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m _not_ a delicate flower, you know? It just itches a little. And besides, ” Nero smiled widely, “beating the crap out all those guys with you was hella fun.”

His enthusiasm was sincere, which caused V to relax and chuckle.

“The fact that your way of ‘having fun’ involves life-or-death situations perhaps says something about your sanity.”

The devil hunter’s answer was to snort while bumping V’s shoulder again.

“Come on, don’t pretend you didn't have fun too. I can see the creepy smile you show when killing those things. Your sanity is as fucked up as mine.”

V didn’t say anything, but there was a hint of a smirk in his face that confirmed Nero’s words.

They remained in silence while looking the road in front of them. Due to the proximity of the Qliphoth, the destruction surrounding the area was even worse than the places they had went through up till then. In fact, the library where Nero had fought against that flying demon that had captured Lady was in good shape in comparison with the Clustonbury Theatre, which was some meters ahead and had ended practically destroyed.

“Did you get to visit the theatre?” he suddenly asked while adjusting a new devil breaker to his arm. “Before it became this mess of rocks, I mean.”

“Yes, some years ago.” V’s tone turned suddenly nostalgic. “I was even able to enjoy from a rather decent performance.”

Nero had to bite his tongue not to ask if V had gone alone or not, preferring not to risk that the answer was positive.

“The subway was still full of posters of the ‘ _Rise and Fall of Spencer_ ’,” he commented instead, crossing his arms. “It was supposed to be aired in June or July I think, but I don’t know if the theatre will be rebuilt by then.”

“It probably will. It is not the first time that Red Grave goes through a heavy destruction, so I’m positive the city will rise from its ashes.”

Nero nodded. He had heard some stories about it from Morrison, although as usual the man never gave many details about anything. He remembered to have heard something about a gigantic tower appearing out of nowhere, and demons prowling the streets like they were doing in the present. Apparently, Dante had taken care of that back then, when he was _still_ young, so it had to happen a bunch of time ago.

“We could go to watch it,” Nero said in an impulse, causing V’s eyes to open wide. “When this is over, obviously. _And_ if the theatre has been rebuilt. _And_ if the cast still wants to perform in a city that had been almost wiped off the map twice by the Underworld”

V stared him in silence for some seconds before chuckling.

“I wasn’t aware that theatre was among your interests,” he smiled with irony. “Is that also product of your education in Fortuna?”

Nero tsked.

“Hell no. The only performances Fortuna allowed were the ones praising Sparda. They were boring as fuck.”

“So you have never watched a proper performance yet.”

“Well, I watched a couple of illegal ones in the outskirts, but the people doing them weren’t professionals and it was more a way to have fun.” He scratched the back of his head and cleared his throat to try to talk in the most casual tone. “So what? Would you like to go or not?”

Nero had already assumed that V would detect his light nervousness when asking that, and that he would make a teasing remark about it. So, he was surprised when the invoker limited himself to look at him with a small smile that came out a little bitter.

“I would like to,” V answered with sincerity, averting his eyes again towards the ground in an expression that was serious once again. "Though you’re assuming too many things.”

Nero frowned with confusion.

“Like what?”

“For starters, that we will win the battle against Urizen.”

“We will. We have faced already a bunch of those strange roots and we have won, right?”

“And that we will still be together when all this finishes.”

Nero froze at that, feeling his heart come to a stop.

“And why the hell wouldn’t we be together?” Needless to say, his attempt of sounding calm failed spectacularly. “Wait, are you saying you wanna dump me when all this finishes?”

He felt deeply relieved when V shook his head negatively.

“If I wanted to do that, I wouldn’t have encouraged you to tell Nico about us, don’t you think?” V said with patience, causing Nero to let out the breath he had been holding.

“Shit, okay, you scared me for a moment.” He was glad for the answer, but it only made him feel even more confused about V’s comment. “But what do you mean then?”

V took a deep breath while grabbing the cane with more force. The invoker opened his mouth, closed it again, and after a moment he finally spoke, although Nero believed that V had changed at the last second what he was going to initially say.

“I just say that no one can know what the future brings,” the invoker eventually said, looking in front of him again with a gaze that was more absent. “The only certainty we have is the present. Right now, you wish to stay by my side, the same as I do wish to stay by yours, but such wishes are not immutable. They can change over time. People can change over time. So, perhaps, it is a little premature to make plans that go beyond out task at hand. And pointless.”

The more V talked, the more pronounced Nero’s frown turned. He wanted to reply something to all the nonsense V was saying, but the invoker rapidly muttered an evasive ‘ _We should proceed_ ’ and invoked Shadow under him to travel faster and more safely through the broken road.

Nero was forced to run after V to catch up. When they reached the stage, he was about to resume the conversation V had abruptly cut when he felt a demonic presence extremely close. The devil hunter automatically walked in front of V, in alert to face whatever danger waiting ahead, and when one of those demonic knights fell in front of them, he decided that he would need to wait a little before giving V a piece of his mind.

* * *

Since his previous battle against the Knight developed without any remarkable incidence, V believed that he had already got over the memories that used to assault him when facing certain types of enemies, but he soon realized he had been naively optimistic.

The moment those Angelo knights appeared in front of them, the image of Nelo Angelo flashed in front of him, momentarily taking the place of the knight standing in the middle of the group. While Nero taunted the enemies, V closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose to reduce the pressure settling in his temples, trying to normalize his breathing while blocking any resurfacing memories of the time that Vergil spent under Mundus’ control. However, his lips must have moved on his own to speak while trying to regain his composure, because Nero answered something back before taking a hold of his sword.

The battle hadn’t begun yet when the foundations of the stage gave in, causing the whole platform to slide down while they were still standing on it. Fighting on a moving surface was very inconvenient, but the battle wasn’t as tough as it seemed at first glance. In fact, perhaps at the end it was almost beneficial that the image of Nelo Angelo occasionally appeared when fighting those demons. It encouraged V to kill them the fastest and cruelest he could, in order to erase the version of himself that the older son of Sparda loathed the most.

The last Angelo was defeated seconds before they were forced to jump from the platform in order to avoid falling into the precipice waiting ahead. The improvised transport had allowed them to reach the main root of the Qliphoth quicker than they had anticipated, and it wasn’t until that moment that V realized where they had exactly ended.

He stopped in his tracks, suddenly needing to lean on his cane to keep standing while feeling a cold sweat running down his spine.

“Took us long enough to get here,” Nero was saying at that moment, pausing to exhale a soft snort, probably mistaking his distress with mere exhaustion. “What, tired already?”

“I’ve just remembered something.” He began to walk forward slowly, heavily. “This town was attacked once before.”

“Is that so?”

V didn’t notice that Nero had said something. He continued speaking more to himself than to the boy, sparing a brief glance towards the devil hunter without even noticing.

“I was here...I can still see it.” He took one, two, three steps forwards before stopping again in order to crouch on the ground. “In fact, I was playing right here.” He slowly looked towards his right and signaled with the cane towards the other side of the cliff. “That was the house.”

Those words had barely left his mouth when it happened again: the house, his old home, suddenly flickered in front of his eyes; and then, out of nowhere flames were surrounding it, engulfing it. The change was so drastic that V couldn’t even emit a sound of surprise. He could only stare at the scenario, with his chest and throat feeling tight.

He knew what was coming. He knew that his mind would be cruel enough to make him remember _that_ cry that he still heard in his nightmares, so he rapidly blinked in an attempt to dispel that vision before he was completely paralyzed by it.

A sigh of relief was about to escape V when it worked. Fortunately, Nero had been busy staring at the house and hadn’t noticed his brief struggle, which allowed him to recover his standing position while looking almost completely serene.

“This is where we part ways. You go ahead.”

Nero threw a side glance at him.

“You’re gonna miss all the fun.”

The devil hunter’s slightly sarcastic tone indicated V that Nero thought that he was joking, something that was understandable considering that they had barely joined forces again. However, as much as he preferred that things were different, V wasn’t joking.

“No. I must seek out the devil sword Sparda.”

The shock was evident in Nero’s voice when talking next.

“What? Yeah, I don’t think that’s such a good idea, trust me.”

V didn’t know if Nero was worried about the idea of searching the weapon of the demon that Fortuna’s cult had worshiped or about them parting ways. It sounded more like the second, and to be completely honest, if the circumstances were different V wouldn’t have suggested such a plan.

He had never liked that people made assumptions about him, but Nero had been accurate when stating that he also enjoyed working together. Vergil had always preferred to do things his way, but along the trip V had got used to Nero’s company to an extent that still surprised him sometimes.

However, in his current state it was mandatory that they parted ways. It seemed that the closer they got to Urizen, the more difficult it was going for him to control those arising memories. So, at least until he learnt to keep them under control, it was wiser to put some distance not to say something that he shouldn’t around Nero.

“You’re not the only one who thinks so.” He patted Nero’s arm softly when passing by. “But to win this fight, we’re going to need all the help we can get.”

While beginning to walk away, V thought that Nero had accepted the change of plans, since the devil hunter remained behind, muttering some words under his breath that he couldn’t catch. He did hear though the exasperated curse Nero let out, and his heavy footsteps before the devil hunter reappeared in front of him to stand in the way.

V exhaled an impatient sigh, ready to cut Nero’s attempts of questions before he could even formulate them, but the devil hunter didn’t let him speak.

“Were you lying before?”

V frowned, not understanding the sudden ambiguous question.

“I beg your pardon?”

Nero crossed his arms tightly.

“You told me that you trusted me, and that you’d count on me. Are you really doing that, V?”

V sustained Nero’s stubborn gaze. It wasn’t the first time that Nero doubted one of his claims, and although usually V was prone to act defensively by avoiding or answering the question in a cutting way, at that moment he found himself replying quite differently.

“I am. Or, at the very least, I’m trying.”

The way Nero’s eyes opened proved the boy was expecting his usual reluctance to express his feelings, not a sincere answer.

“Well, you could do better,” Nero snapped in a tone that came out half-mocking but also half-annoyed, “because what you said before, about us ending separated and people changing and all that crap, where the hell did that come from? Because if you don’t plan to ditch me, do you think _I_ am planning to do it when this ends?”

If there was something that V was not used to yet was to Nero’s unique bluntness. For someone who always thought twice (and thrice) about what to say, and who always preferred to keep what he truly felt for himself, Nero’s complete lack of fear to express his doubts and feelings was something he could never be entirely prepared for. However, despite the way his heart had skipped a beat when hearing Nero, V managed to keep a neutral tone when answering.

“I do not doubt the veracity of your feelings, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Okay, then what’s the problem?” Nero’s tone became hesitant next. “Does it have something to do with your past? Or with Urizen?”

V nodded almost without noticing, averting his eyes. The words Griffon spoke to him when their one-month trip was about to end came back to him.

“ _But V, what the hell do you think it’s gonna happen if you manage to be complete again? Do you think the boy won’t want to know more about you then? It’s only a matter of time that he discovers everything about Vergil!_ ”

Now, he was painfully aware of the truth they held, and also of the fact that he would be unable to keep that secret for much longer. Should he stop being delaying what couldn’t be changed and tell Nero about it once and for all? Should he force himself to share with Nero the truth despite the consequences? Should he...?

“Okay, then I won’t insist, but please, do me a favor and stop worrying about that thing of us parting ways, okay? Because that’s _bullshit_.” Nero’s brusque but confident words made V be forcibly broken out from his thoughts in order to glance at the devil hunter. “You said you trusted me, right? Then trust this too: we’re gonna defeat Urizen, then we’ll come back to Devil May Cry with everyone, we’ll kick Dante out his bedroom because his bed is the only decent of the damn office, and I won’t let you abandon that room until you are convinced that I don’t plan to go anywhere without you.”

When Nero finished speaking, V found himself having difficulties to swallow, as his heart began to hammer against his ribcage.

Now, more than ever, he understood why Vergil had wisely decided to avoid love at all cost. It was like a drug: dangerous, intoxicating, and once you discovered it and got used to it, it turned so addictive than being deprived of it would bring a suffering that not everyone was able to endure.

And now, while seeing Nero be so willing to respect his wishes of secrecy over his own curiosity, and so convinced of his feelings for him, his fear of what could happen after defeating Urizen grew even more.

He wanted to be complete. He _needed_ to be complete. It was his only way of surviving after all. But he knew that the possibility of them parting ways after succeeding was high, and not precisely because of the boy. That fear that used to assault him about Nero not accepting him when becoming Vergil was beginning to lose strength, replaced by new, more dangerous ones.

What if it was Vergil the one who decided to renounce to Nero?

What if what he felt for Nero at that moment disappeared after merging back, or what if those feelings stayed but were purposely blocked by Vergil not to become weak?

What if those remaining hours until reaching the Qliphoth were the last he and Nero would share, until fate, or his own self, decided to put an end to it?

“V? Is something wrong?”

The sudden contact of Nero’s warm hand on his arm made V shudder involuntarily. He looked at Nero again, with his pupils slightly more dilated and his breathing uneven, and before the boy could ask anything else, he hooked a hand on the back of Nero’s head and leaned forward to kiss him desperately.

The devil hunter grunted inside his mouth, but instead of returning the kiss Nero pulled back, talking with a breathless tone.

“Hey, you trying to distract me not to answer?” Nero snapped, but his offended tone lost part of its effect when V’s mouth began to attack the side of his neck, causing him to exhale a soft aroused groan.

“Perhaps I am.” V’s lips travelled to Nero’s ear. “Or perhaps I’m not interested in talking anymore.”

V grinded forward, and when feeling Nero’s half-hard member pressing against his crotch, he rapidly used his cane to hit the back of Nero’s feet, causing him to fall onto the ground.

He didn’t let the boy time to protest for the sudden attack. He released the cane, straddled Nero’s lap, and leaned down to devour Nero’s mouth in a fierce, violent kiss.

At that moment, he didn’t want to talk, to argue, and much less to think.

The only thing V knew was that chances were high that things didn’t turn to be like that future Nero had thought for the both of them, and in that case, he wanted to fully feel the devil hunter with each fiber of his body one last time.

The last threads of control Nero still possessed vanished when V pinned him against the ground. The invoker rapidly reached down between their bodies to hurriedly unbuckle his belt, almost breaking his pants open when zipping them down.

Nero groaned when V groped his member to rub it through his now tight underwear. God, he knew he was being an idiot, Nero thought while desperately accepting V’s frantic, deep kisses, his hips bucking up automatically against V’s expert hand. He knew he should be probably trying to extract the truth out of V, instead of surrendering to his urges, because it was evident that V was hiding something. He always did. But damn it, he didn’t want to stop. He didn’t want V to stop; not to mention that being with V was still so new and uncertain, so complicated, that he didn’t want to risk to ruin it by insisting too much.

So, he would trust that V actually trusted him enough to count on him when it was really needed, and would fucking accept everything the man decided to give no matter when or where. And if that included interrupting the damn mission in order to do _this_ , he would gladly follow.

Nero sighed in relief when, with their mouths still connected, V’s hands landed on either side of his head to begin moving back and forward, creating a pleasurable friction between their clothed members. He was honestly expecting to come like that, with them finishing themselves off with that wilder and wilder grinding, but V had other plans.

His eyes opened wide in a mix of shock and anticipation when V straightened his position, remaining standing over him with his feet planted on either side of his body. Nero’s pulse accelerated when seeing V’s green eyes, darkened with possessive want, buried in him from above while unbuckling his belt.

“Right sandal,” V ordered more than asked, in a commanding tone that made Nero automatically obey to begin unleash V’s right shoe. When he did so, V stepped out of it, lowered his pants and underwear just enough to get his right leg out of it, and while letting the rest of his clothes carelessly dangling from his body he sat on Nero again.

Nero was fully hard by when V liberated his member from his underwear. Damn, it was a real turn on to see V, usually so composed, only wanting to remove the necessary clothes for the impatience of taking him in. It was as if the invoker couldn’t wait a damn second longer before having him inside, and such a thought was as arousing as it was scary.

“V, wait.” Despite the lust clouding his mind, Nero managed to find his voice to speak when V raised his hips to reposition himself over his member. “V, it’s going to hurt like a bitch if we don’t prepare you—”

Nero’s warning ended with a fast string of curses when V began to lower down onto him, taking him raw in without further warning. He forced himself to open his eyes again, which had closed because of the overwhelming tightness around his member. He suppressed a grunt when seeing V grabbing his plump lower lip between his teeth, thick brows furrowed and eyes shut close. Damn, such expression was pretty erotic, although it would be better if the invoker wasn’t going through obvious pain.

“And I’m the brute one?” Nero snapped, hands flying to take a hold on V’s hips as this one stubbornly kept taking him inch by inch, V's nails scratching slightly his chest through his t-shirt in the process, “shit, weren’t you supposed to be the sadist type?”

V exhaled a breathless chuckle when Nero was finally sheathed inside. The invoker interrupted his next protests by grabbing him by the front of his sweater to pull him upwards. 

“As adorable as you are getting all concerned about my wellbeing,” Nero’s grip on V’s hips tightened when the invoker bit his lower lip with enough force to draw blood, “right now I only need you _to wreck me_.”

Nero suffered a violent shock of pleasure when V shoved him back against the ground again while immediately beginning to rock his hips up and down, riding him with forceful elegance. The invoker brusquely lifted his sweater and t-shirt, exposing Nero’s torso to dig his nails directly in his chest. V's long fingers pinched his nipples between ride and ride, making Nero moan and arch towards the contact in arousal.

“ _Ngh_...Okay, _fine_ ,” Nero snarled raggedly, flexing his legs to finally begin to thrust up the next time V bounced down, causing the invoker to let out an appreciative groan for the now deeper penetration.

If V really wanted to be fucked until not being able to think straight, that was exactly what Nero would do.

In no time, the only sounds that left V’s chanting mouth were urgent encouragements and demanding ‘ _More_ ’s as Nero pounded up into him in synchrony with each one of his descents, causing V’s whole body to be shaken by the perfect mix of stinging pain and intense pleasure. Because that was exactly what he wanted, what he _needed_ to make all those fears and painful memories go away, the vision of the house in the distance not so clear anymore since his eyes were almost closed due to Nero's satisfying, unrestrained rhythm.

At some point Nero sat up again with fluency, his mouth attaching to the side of V's neck as his arms passed to enclose around his waist in a tight, warm hug. Even when having sex roughly like that, Nero always managed to surprise him with those tender gestures, and the way the boy’s eyes occasionally shined, full of that pure feeling V had always craved and now he had finally found, made him feel guilt eating him up.

There were so many things Nero didn’t know; so many things V should have told him already. But Griffon was right. He wasn't strong in body but neither in mind. He was not ready to see Nero's expression when discovering what his fate was going to be, or that he was using the boy to his own pleasure when he wasn’t sure about how everything was going to end.

He was weak, and also selfish, because the time to leave that body behind was getting closer, and until that happened, he didn't plan to deny himself anything, and much less Nero. His most human desires and feelings he had forced himself to bury so long ago had been awoken that day that Nero surprised him by kissing him, and definitely he wasn't ready to let them go. Not yet. Not so soon. Not _ever_.

All the guilt V felt faded into raw ecstasy when Nero finally struck his prostate. The kiss they were sharing was broken when his head snapped back to moan an aroused ‘ _there_ ’. V enclosed his arms around Nero's shoulders while the devil hunter painted a new mark on his patterned neck. He felt the boy’s metallic and human hands grabbing his ass with bruising force to drag him down at the same time he kept thrusting up, now hitting that spot every single time.

V's until then discreet moans turned more urgent and louder as his climax approached at a vertiginous rhythm, which only spurred Nero on. The boy cursed heatedly, attacking with hunger his half-opened mouth. The pace was now more uncoordinated, almost erratic, but Nero kept rocking their bodies together with that roughness that V needed.

" _Nero…_ " It was kind of embarrassing to sound that desperate and needy, but he couldn't help it. Not when Nero was wrecking him exactly as he had asked.

It still amazed him that the boy had been virgin a mere week ago. By then he surpassed with difference any lovers Vergil could have had in the past, though truth to be told V had already thought it during [their first time together](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19270597/chapters/52360189). At the end, there was a clear difference between mere bedwarmers and sleeping with a person you truly cared for, as much as Vergil had refused to acknowledge such a thing in the past out of self-preservation.

"V..." The invoker was brought to reality when Nero sneaked his hand between their bodies to stroke V's member, causing the invoker to whine for the new stimulation. "Shit, V, I don’t wanna, but I _have_ to pull out."

V nodded shakily, frustration settling when Nero slid out from him. Part of him wanted that Nero came inside, but it was far from wise, so this time he would need to conform himself with achieving release by rubbing their members together.

It was insufficient, and considerably less satisfactory than when Nero was inside him or vice versa, but at least he could take a better, proper look at Nero’s expression in all its glory: the way the boy’s breathing quickened as the rhythm of his hand increased the pressure; the way Nero's brows furrowed when he was close to the edge; and the way his jaw clenched when finally the orgasm hit him, making the devil hunter shut his eyes close while saying V's name.

That last blissed call provoked V to follow Nero soon after. The force of his orgasm made V sigh in relief, resting his face in the crook of Nero’s neck. The boy’s arms wrapped around his thin waist again, pressing their bodies even closer in a way that V would have usually considered suffocating, but not with Nero. Never with him.

“You sure you don’t want to tell me more?”

V chuckled tiredly, glancing up at Nero’s sated face with an ironic, slightly flushed expression.

“If you plan to make me speak, perhaps you should wake up from your afterglow first.”

Nero huffed softly, turning his head to deposit a gentle kiss on his mouth that contrasted with the wildness showed before during their intercourse.

“Look, I’ve accepted already that there are things that you can’t tell me yet...or well, that you _don’t want_ to speak about yet,” Nero said when they separated. “But will you someday?”

The expectation he saw in Nero’s eyes, that honest interest and concern only directed at him, made impossible for V not to nod. That boy had really made him softer, hadn’t he? He shouldn’t have allowed it. It was the thing Vergil had fought the most to avoid at all cost, which convinced V even more about how his feelings for Nero would be irremediably buried once the battle came to an end.

“Yes. Someday.”

When Nero smiled satisfied before kissing him again, that pressure in his chest that V had almost forgotten during their encounter came back, even worse than before, knowing that those questions Nero was holding back would be answered soon, and for sure not in the way Nero was expecting.

* * *

_**9:56 a.m.** _

When they were presentable again, Nero had to really fight the temptation of following V when this one stepped on Shadow to go down the road. He would be a big liar if he said he hadn’t enjoyed what had just happened. In fact, his legs still felt a little wobbly as a result of the recent sex, but now that he was thinking clearly again, he wondered for second time if he shouldn’t have tried to press the issue about V’s past.

“Guess there’s no point thinking about it…”

Also, he didn’t have time to think about their probable lack of professionalism for fucking while the world could very much be about to end, since at that moment Nico’s van appeared skidding on the road, even more out of control than usual until ending mere centimeters away from his body.

“Perfect timing,” he said with irony. “Now we’re startin’ to act like a team.”

“Ew! You, like, flirtin’ with me? Knock it off.” She quickly signaled the copilot seat behind her with her thumb. “Get in the car.”

Nero sighed and did so, while hearing Nico mutter a relieved ‘ _Oh my gawd…_ ’ that told him that, this time, perhaps he had been about to die for real for one of her suicide car maneuvers. As usual, the door hadn’t closed behind him yet when the woman started talking, without even giving Nero time to say hello to Lady sitting on the couch with her legs crossed, properly dressed this time while leafing through a magazine.

“Hey, where’s your boyfriend? I thought the plan was to enter that horrible tree together.”

He threw a side glance at Lady when Nico called V in such a way. However, she didn’t make any attempt in intruding the conversation, something logical given that Nero barely knew anything about the female demon hunter excepting the information he had read in Morrison’s letter.

“Yeah, that _was_ the plan.” He dropped on the seat. “But V has decided to go after an ancient sword that could help us with this.”

Nico hummed, observing him with interest.

“Okay, what do we do then: to wait for his skinny ass again?”

Nero exhaled a sigh. Theoretically, that _was_ the new plan, but he guessed it wouldn’t hurt to clean a little the road to Urizen. Also, considering how much time Dante spent fighting that demon, probably it would be a good idea to tire that bastard up until V arrived.

And who knows, depending on how much it would take V to come back, maybe he could even win without having to depend on that ‘magic sword’, to finally liberate V from that connection he seemed to unwillingly share with that Urizen.

“No. Let’s go,” he eventually said, crossing both his legs and arms. “He knows where we’re going, so he’ll find us.”

“Roger.” He was about to close his eyes for a really short nap when Nico talked again after starting the car. “By the way, Nero…”

“Yeah?” he said after yawning, with his eyes still closed.

“Please, do me a favor and take a quick shower. You reek of sex.”

Nero’s eyes snapped wide opened again. He turned red in a second, and even redder when Lady muttered an uninterested ‘ _Yes, I smell it from here_ ’ from where she was sitting.

“Fuck, _Nico_.”

“Yup, that’s what _you_ did.”

Nero glared at the smirking woman, which only caused her to move her eyebrows up and down provocatively. He cursed in a way that wanted to sound angry but that came out mostly embarrassed, so he pretended not to hear Nico and Lady’s muffled laughs when he walked (quickly) to the bathroom. He snapped the door of the cabin opened, closed it with force behind him, and after hurriedly removing his clothes he stepped inside the small cubicle, leaning both of his hands on the wall while the water cascaded down on him.

Nico and Lady’s laughs got louder outside, and Nero cursed again with resignation, thinking that maybe, and _just_ maybe, sleeping with V wasn’t going to compensate the eternal teasing coming from Nico that he would need to endure from then onwards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know when in games you leave the plot a little aside to make secondary missions? Well, V and Nero did that to make E-rated things xDD  
> We're getting close to when Dante appears!! :)) Can't wait to write him again hehehe


	9. Mission 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This update came fast because it's more a transitional chapter, but hope you enjoy it nevertheless :)

**_June 15 - 10:06 a.m._ **

V had barely left Nero’s side when the sound of Nico’s van skidding on the irregular terrain reached his ears. For a second, he wondered if he should talk to the craftswoman about the Sparda. With how skilled she was, perhaps she would be able to improve its power even more, not to mention that her vehicle would come in handy to transport it.

Eventually though, V decided to let the teams as they were. After all he had his familiars’ support, so it was better if Nero could count with Nico and Lady’s help, together with an apparent unlimited amount of devil breakers at his disposal.

At least, V hoped that Nero was clever enough not to face Urizen alone _again_. However, considering the boy’s lack of patience and excess of pride, V really doubted Nero was able to stay put waiting for him when being presented the chance of finally facing the demon who humiliated him twice, first by ripping his arm off and leaving him in a coma, and second by defeating him without apparent effort.

The only thing V could do was to recover that sword as fast as possible to guarantee that Nero wouldn’t be too harmed by when they arrived.

“Did you find it?” V inquired when Griffon came back after sweeping the area.

“Uh, well, I don’t know what I found, but...I think I saw some demons dancing?”

“Well, then I guess we keep going. The devil sword Sparda is nearby.”

V had barely invoked Shadow to travel faster when Griffon snickered. His quirked-up eyebrow caused the bird to answer without him having to formulate any questions.

“I was just thinking that maybe you’d want to rest after your... _intense talk_ with Nero.”

V’s eyes opened more for a moment before half-closing them.

“Weren’t you supposed to be completely dormant as long as I didn’t invoke you?”

“Oh, and we were, don’t worry. But by now the guys and I can differentiate your different types of ‘tiredness’: like the one after a tough battle, or after not sleeping well, or after you and the kid—”

“I have understood it already, Griffon. Thank you.”

“Anytime, V.”

The invoker glared at the bird, but this one didn’t look affected in the least while flying next to him. In fact, he had the nerve of snickering again and keeping his rhythm when V purposely travelled faster thanks to Shadow’s trail.

“Aww, come on, don’t sulk.” Griffon’s tone turned conciliatory, and more amicable. “We are happy that you found some time for yourselves...Okay, _maybe_ it wasn’t the most responsible thing ever with that tree about to consume the world and all that but bah, screw it: with all what’s happening, you better not waste any chances.”

“Because they can very much be the last, right?”

Griffon sighed with patience at his ironic remark.

“You know, V, you _really_ don’t have to be so pessimistic to combine with the gothic looks.”

V chuckled at those last words.

“I’m afraid that pessimism has always been something quite intrinsic in Vergil.”

“Yeah, well, I get it,” the bird conceded. “I mean, it’s not as if the man’s life was a bed of roses, _but_ you have to admit that for now things are going pretty well and we aren’t having much trouble defeating all those roots, so— _ouch_!” The last shout was addressed at Shadow, who had poked at the bird by throwing a treacherous tentacle at him. “Okay, okay, jeez, I’ll shut up not to jinx it, you happy about that!?”

V concealed a smile when hearing a muffled growl coming from under his feet that made Griffon tsk in return.

The sudden appearance of a Behemoth prevented Griffon from protesting further. V was forced to invoke Nightmare to concentrate the demon’s attacks, since the beast hadn’t come alone and some cainas and antenoras came around to make the battle a little more interesting.

They were attacked several times while advancing through the graveyard, and although the number of enemies decreased considerably when entering the catacombs, the number of small rooms where they were forced to battle greatly exceeded the ones where they could stop for a small rest.

At some point, V was about to jump down from one of the enclosed areas to the small ravine with Griffon’s help when the bird talked again.

“Do you think Dante is dead?”

“Quite possibly,” V answered after some seconds of thinking. “He has no reason to keep Dante alive.”

Griffon hummed and threw a bolt towards a cluster of crystalized green orbs to help Shadow destroy it.

“That’s not what you told Nero before.”

“And what good would have made to do so?” V replied, crouching to recover the orb pieces to keep some inside his pockets in case of necessity. “We don’t know what Dante’s fate has been after all, so Nero is in his right to assume the man’s alive as I am to believe that he didn’t make it.”

Griffon hummed again.

“You know that a month ago you’d have destroyed the boy’s hopes without hesitation, right?”

V threw a side glance at his familiar, not liking the implications of Griffon’s words.

“What are you insinuating?”

“Exactly what I said: that you have turned more considerate with others feelings during this trip.” Griffon cawed a laugh when V clicked his tongue in annoyance. “Come on, it’s _not_ something bad.”

V sighed and stood up to finally walk towards the steep stairs leading to an open area.

“I shall disagree, Griffon: the fact that my behavior towards Nero has evolved considerably does not mean I have changed in regards to others.”

“Oh, but you haven’t changed _just_ with him. You’ve also become way nicer with your faithful servants too!”

“Have I?”

“Yep. Don’t you remember the first days after making the contract? You only used to talk to us when you _needed_ us, but look at you now: you let us out whenever we want to, you actually listen to us from time to time, and you even thank us sometimes! It’s _obvious_ you have actually come to like us!”

V snorted softly at the way Shadow growled briefly, agreeing with Griffon.

“Well, perhaps I have only realized that indulging you from time to time is more productive in battles.”

V missed the way Griffon and Shadow interchanged a patient glance for being looking at the telephone booth. Initially he was going to pass by, but Griffon’s insistent encouragement to call the woman for a small rest convinced him to eventually do so. After all, it went without saying that Nico would prioritize Nero’s needs over his, so if the woman attended his call it was because, at least for the time being, Nero was fine on his own.

“Alright, Missy, you’re up!” Griffon cawed when Nico picked up in the first tone.

“ _Keep squawking, little chickee._ ”

V had barely hanged out when out of sudden Griffon wrested his cane from his grasp. He was so shocked by the action that it didn’t occur to him to order Shadow to recover it for him. He attempted and failed to take it back on his own, glaring at Griffon when this one flied away his grasp. The bird didn’t go far though, since at that moment Nico broke through the closest blocked path and was about to run over the bird before dangerously rolling over twice.

The cane ended at his feet, so V recovered it and muttered a sincere ‘ _Impressive_ ’ before beginning to approach the van. Griffon appeared at that moment, breathless and perhaps little paler.

“S-See?! A month ago, for sure you’d have tried to make me pay for stealing your cane.”

V blinked at Griffon’s triumphant tone.

“Under normal circumstances I would, but I believe karma has casted her adequate punishment already by almost killing you right now.”

His arrogant answer provoked Griffon to babble something unintelligible that probably was an insult and that he chose to ignore. He stopped next to the driver window, where Nico was sitting as if parking the van like that was perfectly normal.

“I’m glad to see you in one piece.”

Nico huffed, leaning her arms on the window with a superior smile.

“Hey, it takes a lot more to kill this gal.”

“ _These_ _gals_ you mean.” V heard Lady protest from further inside the van before the woman entered his line of vision. “I almost shoot the Kalina by accident because of your driving!”

“Oh, come on, they were just a couple bumps!”

“These ‘bumps’ have left me more bruises than when we faced Urizen!”

“Well, not my fault that the whole road is blocked and the princess cannot stand a bumpy ride!”

“Who are you calling _princess_?!”

V cleared his throat with patience, causing the women to look at him.

“As much as I regret putting an end to your flirting—”

“ _Flirting_?!”

“—could I ask for a minute of your time to examine this?” V extracted his book from his pocket. “It occurred to me that the formula you applied to my cane could also work with the demonic power it withholds.”

Nico’s eyes shined with interest at the suggestion. In the meantime, Lady dropped on the sofa with a faint blush in her cheeks, probably product of the casual comment V had said before.

“Oi, that’s actually a rather cool idea!” Nico signaled inside. “Jump inside, man. Now you made me curious to try that.”

Even if Nico was clearly the loud type, her behavior changed completely when she was concentrated on her job, so V could enjoy some minutes of peace while the craftswoman worked with his book. The sofa was big enough so that both Lady and him could be sitting without entering in contact, but the invoker could still feel some tension coming from the woman, as if she didn’t feel entirely comfortable with his presence.

Unless his memory was failing him, V didn’t remember any other encounter with that woman beyond what happened in Temen-ni-gru. Vergil hadn’t hesitated in asking Arkham to get rid of the girl at the time, neither in fighting against her when she first attempted to avenge her ‘deceased’ father. For Vergil, she had just been a nuisance that he had to eliminate, and for sure he wouldn’t have hesitated in killing her if everything had come to that. So, depending on how intuitive the woman could be, and if she could somehow feel his connection with Vergil, the distrust Lady harbored towards him was quite justified.

At that moment he heard Lady uselessly trying to suppress a hiss next to him, which made him shift his eyes towards her when she was adjusting a handmade bandage on her right forearm. She noticed his glance because after dedicating him a brief look she sighed.

“A group of demons attacked us when we were clearing the way,” she explained. "The scythes those things wear are quite annoying.”

V observed the red stain of the bandage. The wound couldn’t be superficial if it was bleeding like that, but before he could consider the idea of mentioning something about it, Nico’s boisterous laughter sounded from their left.

“Okie dokie, your book is ready!” Nico appeared then from the workspace while shaking is poetry book. “Here, hold it: can you feel the extra power coming from it?”

V took the book, thinking that Nico was simply boasting about her talent as usual, but just by sustaining it he could actually feel that the demonic power imbued in it had somehow increased.

“Impressive,” he said for second time, causing the woman to chuckle proudly while crossing her arms. “How much do I owe you?”

“Nothing.” V raised a skeptic eyebrow, which made Nico continue. “I haven’t needed to waste any new materials: I only reused the remaining mix I had already created for the cane. And besides,” a mischievous smile appeared in Nico’s face, “thanks to you we had a lot of fun embarrassing Nero before, so this upgrade is on the house.”

Nico’s smile made V quickly deduce what the motive of the teasing could have been, but as much as he was getting used to Nico’s intrusive nature, he still preferred to keep certain topics to himself, and everything involving Nero was definitely one of them.

“Well, I appreciate your generosity then.”

He turned around to leave before Nico could continue with the teasing when his eyes stopped on Lady for a moment. He hesitated for a moment, but eventually he reached for the pocket of his coat to casually deposit some pieces of green orbs on the table in front of the sofa.

“You might need it. It is not enough to heal the wound completely, but it will allow it to cicatrize faster.”

He muttered a polite ‘ _Until next time_ ’ and abandoned the vehicle while feeling the women’s astonished gazes on him. He had barely closed the door behind him and had taken some steps forward when he heard the door opening again.

“Hey, V!”

The invoker sighed when hearing Nico calling for him. He turned around, ready to answer back any attempt of sass coming from the craftswoman, but Nico was only smiling at him without any apparent mocking this time, while standing next to Lady who had also abandoned the sofa.

“Thank you,” Lady said, and V realized the woman was sustaining the green orbs in her hand. “I will make good use of this.”

“See you around, dude.” Nico winked at him. “Maaaybe Nero’s taste doesn’t suck as much as I thought.”

V’s eyes remained considerably more opened even after the women waved their hands goodbye and the van disappeared down the road once again. He blinked, turned around again, and he stopped in his tracks when seeing Griffon flying in front of him, after having manifested without him noticing.

“Yep, it’s evident you’ve changed _just_ with Nero.”

V rolled his eyes and passed Griffon by in order to reach the location of the sword, by ignoring the knowing laughs of the bird.

He was contradicting his familiar out of habit, but deep inside he knew the bird wasn’t entirely wrong. It was evident that he wasn’t the same man who was brought to the world when Vergil tried to separate his two natures. At that time, the only thing in his mind had been to recover his lost power no matter the cost or the sacrifices. That’s why he had recurred to Dante, and then to Nero when the first failed. At the moment he hadn’t quite minded who could have died in the process, and wouldn’t have hesitated in finding Nero a replacement either if this one had also been captured by Urizen.

Independently of what he’d have preferred, he wasn’t like that anymore. He had changed, evolved. He still craved power, yes, but it wasn’t the main thing that thrived him forward anymore. The same way, even if one of Vergil’s main obsessions had been to face and defeat Dante once and for all, V wasn’t sure to want that anymore; to _need_ that anymore.

“Whoa, this is some kind of ritual shindig, isn’t it? You guys got the dance fever for Sparda, don’t you?”

At that moment Griffon began to taunt the nobodies that spread through the place, forcing V to focus on the upcoming battle to recover the devil sword Sparda, but while fighting the demons he couldn’t help to think about what could happen if Nero was right when assuming that Dante was alive.

Perhaps that primal, old necessity of beating Dante didn’t belong to his current human form anymore.

Perhaps when he met Dante again, in case of meeting him again, he wouldn’t feel that urge of battling him to death.

Perhaps dialogue could be a real option, instead of merely spilling their respective bloods in the ground between attacks and slices, as liberating and thrilling as such a thing had always felt.

Perhaps he could actually bring himself to forgive his brother, and to finally talk about that thing that had been gnawing at him since that day where their home was burned to ashes.

But when V recovered the Sparda and discovered that luck had accompanied Dante once again, that his little brother had survived and remained safely hidden behind the demonic aura the sword emanated, that old hate came instantly back to him, stronger and more powerful than ever.

And when, ignoring Griffon’s attempts of persuasion, he raised the sword to eradicate Dante while making the most of his unconscious state, V realized that, perhaps, there were some things that weren’t supposed to ever change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand Dante _finally_ joins the fun in the next chapter <3 <3 :D


	10. Mission 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First time in the series writing Dante's POV! :D

**_June 15 - 10:37 a.m._ **

Dante didn’t consider himself a particularly distrustful man. In fact, Trish and Lady had reproached him that aspect of his personality (among _several_ others) in more than one occasion. They said it was a miracle that he was still alive, considering all the times he had got himself involved with people that, eventually, hadn’t resulted to be what they seemed at first glance.

He hated when people attributed his living state to lady luck instead of to his impressive skills, although if he was _completely_ honest with himself, he had to admit that the number of times that he had been tricked for being a goody two-shoes was considerable.

Of course, with Trish there always existed the option of reminding her that ‘his stupid blind trust’ had allowed him to save her when they first met, but probably playing that trump card was a little suicidal. The possibilities of the woman shooting him for mentioning that part of her past were rather high after all, not to mention that such argument wasn’t going to erase all those apparent profitable jobs that had ended in nothing, sometimes with him being _even_ poorer than he was and _way more_ injured than he should.

In summary, Dante was aware that a change of attitude was necessary. Modesty aside, his healing and recovery speed kept being pretty amazing, together with his stamina (and not _just_ in combat, as irrelevant as that last piece of information was at the moment). However, as much as it annoyed him to hear it from the others, he wasn’t _that_ young anymore, so probably it was wise to reduce the rhythm of the life or death situations he faced on a daily basis.

That meant that, for starters, he had to be more selective with his clients. And if such a thing wasn’t possible because he had to put food, alcohol and dirty magazines on his table, at the very least he should _not_ believe so easily the information they provided him. He had to make the effort of using some common sense, and to learn to suspect people even more.

Since he was used to accept practically every job that ended up at his table without thinking too much about the consequences, Dante thought that such a change of approach would be difficult to adopt.

He was wrong.

Two days after he promised himself to select more carefully the messes where he got himself into, Morrison introduced V to him. Since the very first moment that the invoker set foot in Devil May Cry, Dante immediately knew that the guy couldn’t be trusted, a suspicion that now seemed more than justified when he opened his eyes and saw V wielding the devil sword Sparda while sustaining it over him.

At the end though, V simply pierced the ground next to his face with it, before flopping back to sit on the ground. Dante sat up straight and looked at the man, who looked exhausted as a result of having lifted the heavy weapon.

“For a second there I thought you were gonna shish kabob me.”

He took some deep breaths, feeling dizzy as if he had slept too much.

“I know how stubborn you can be. I thought it might be the only way to wake you.”

Dante tensed, as every time that V talked as if he knew him when they hadn’t interacted that much.

“What day is it?” he asked, more brusquely than intended.

“The 15th...of June.”

Dante sighed and snorted a brief laugh.

“A month?” he groaned with effort while standing up, rolling back his sore shoulders. “No wonder I’m so stiff.”

“Right, sunshine, now put a fire under it. We gotta get going, ‘cause that annoying pimple Nero is making a beeline for Urizen. And if he gets there, he’s gonna—”

Definitely, having that big bird chattering while circling around him wasn’t helping with the headache that was making him feel slightly dizzy. After making some experimental punches in the air to loosen up, he grabbed Griffon by his neck to throw him unceremoniously as far as he could. While the animal completed the sentence with a squawk, Dante turned around to be facing V.

He realized too late that maybe giving his back to the man who had been about to stab him in the face hadn’t been the best idea ever, but by basing on V’s labored breathing it seemed that V wasn’t going anywhere.

“Hey, this is my gig. Leave Nero out of this.”

V proceeded to stand up as well with effort, speaking next with a tired tone.

“If you could defeat Urizen...then I never would have dreamed of using that child.” Dante observed V as this one gave some steps forward to recover his cane. "But Urizen...is much stronger than we could ever have imagined.”

Dante didn’t say anything while leaning against the rocky wall. He crossed his arms and observed V as this one kept standing in a vulnerable posture that he could easily take advantage of. However, the invoker looked quite calm around him, as if he perfectly knew that Dante wasn’t going to attack him unless he gave him sounded motives to do so, like attacking first.

Again, he wasn’t the type of judging a book for its cover, so he didn’t mind at all V’s shady looks, neither his cryptic way of speaking, not even the fact that V’s source of power clearly entered the realms of black magic, with that poetry book he always carried around and which obviously held great power, and those tattoos that came and went at wish.

V was, to put it simply, a weirdo, but that wasn’t the reason of his mistrust. No, what gave him the creeps about the guy was the strange aura of familiarity that surrounded him. 

He was positive he hadn’t met V before. At least, not in that form, since he doubted that he could forget a guy who dressed in such a peculiar, _slightly_ provocative fashion. But still, there was something about the guy that made his instincts be in complete alert, in part because unless his gut was lying to him (and it usually didn’t), he had the feeling that Vergil was somehow related to him.

To be fair, up till then it didn’t seem as if V had lied to him. The revelation about Urizen’s identity had proved to be correct, and Dante had been able to feel it for himself during their first confrontation. So, if as V had said and as his own instincts were telling him, Urizen was some kind of twisted version of Vergil, Dante had no clue about how V fitted in the picture.

He sighed. Now he kind of regretted having avoided V during the week and half that he, Trish and Lady spent getting ready to face Urizen. Maybe if he had confronted V at the time, he would have managed to extract some answers from him, but now it was too late for that.

Now, the only thing that mattered was that Vergil seemed to be putting into practice his favorite hobby of causing an early Apocalypse. Also, despite his efforts of not involving Nero in this job for obvious reasons, it seemed that the kid had managed to tag along. And that wasn’t good. Not good at all.

“So, Nero is going after Urizen on his own _again_.”

V nodded, approaching one of the big roots to sit on it.

“He was supposed to wait until we arrived with the Sparda, but if he has fulfilled his promise, that I don’t know.”

Dante sighed and shook his head.

“Damn it. That kid is way too stubborn.”

V exhaled a weak chuckle at that moment.

“Yes, he is.”

Dante frowned, looking at V again after detecting something else besides resignation in the invoker’s tone.

“You sound as if you get along with him.” He tilted his head to the side with curiosity. "Did something happen during my one-month nap?”

V remained silent for a moment. Then, he talked in a studied calmed tone, his eyes fixed in some non-existent point in front of him.

“Nero and I went on a trip.”

Dante’s mouth fell half-opened at the unexpected answer. He snorted with incredulity.

“At least someone could enjoy from some holidays while I was left for dead.”

His ironic retort caused V’s gaze to finally get dragged towards him.

“Obviously, they weren’t ‘holidays’,” V said, emphatically accentuating that last word with a reproaching tone. “The purpose of the journey was to discover what this tree was, and what Urizen was planning to do with it.”

Dante hummed.

“Well, I guess you found your answers if you’ve come back to Red Grave.” He wasn’t very interested in those findings though, since he doubted they were gonna change his plan of kicking Urizen’s ass, so he diverted the topic before V could go into further details. “By the way, where the hell are we? Are we still inside that stinky tree?”

V shook his head, proceeding to explain that the city had gone through a massive destruction. He also filled him in to what happened in the other cities. The level of the damage V mentioned vanished all the remaining doubts that Dante could still have about Vergil’s participation in the situation they were living. The whole ‘ _let’s dominate the world_ ’ thing had his brother’s signature written in permanent ink.

“So, we’re against the clock again, huh?” he exhaled a short laugh, shaking his head with resignation. “I guess that waking up and finding everything solved was too much to ask.”

“Well, if I may say so, doing things the easy way has never been within your style.”

There it was again: that tone that indicated a closeness Dante didn’t know from where it came from.

“You know, V, sometimes I feel a little at disadvantage.”

V looked at him without understanding.

“What do you mean?”

Dante shrugged.

“Well, you seem to know a bunch about me when I know shit about you.” He gave his tone a joking tinge but his eyes were still inquisitive while looking at the invoker. “Are you some kind of secret admirer of mine or what?”

V chuckled quietly, but Dante heard the contact of V’s leather glove against the cane when the man grabbed it with more force, showing that the guy was more nervous for the question than he was letting show.

“My apologies if this disappoints you, but the only motive of my knowledge about your persona is my habit of thoroughly studying my clients before hiring them.”

V’s explanation was rather logical, but Dante had the feeling it was just a very credible excuse. Not that he had any evidence to prove the man wrong anyway, so he opted to answer in his usual carefree way.

“And here I was thinking that I could boast with the ladies about another conquest. That’s what I call a blow to my ego.”

This time V tensed visibly before rapidly reconducting the topic.

“Now that you mention it, do you happen to know where Trish is?”

Dante frowned.

“You mean she isn’t with you?” he inquired with a more serious tone, because he had assumed that both Lady and Trish had managed to escape back then, together with Nero and V.

The last destroyed such assumption during the following minutes, explaining how they had found and saved Lady.

“Sadly, she couldn’t bring much light to Trish’s current whereabouts,” V concluded, causing him to sigh.

“More good news then.” He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t mildly concerned about Trish, but his confidence wasn’t faked when he talked again. “But she’s a tough woman. I doubt those roots are enough to bring her down.”

“I thought the same a month ago when contacting you, and look how it turned out.” V tried to hide a small grimace when standing up again by using his cane. “And when you failed, I believed that boy would be enough. But despite his considerable strength, our last hope, Nero...was completely useless.”

Dante remained silent for a moment, thinking. Even while simply standing close to that root, he could feel that that demonic tree and Urizen were even more powerful than a month ago. Also, the fact that he had been sleeping during the entire time left him in a clear disadvantage. He had never been too good at Math; the outstanding invoices that used to cover his desk spoke for themselves, but it didn’t take a genius to know what would happen if he met a strengthened Urizen in his current state.

He knew he was under leveled, but it wasn’t as if he had many options, didn’t he? So, as usual, he only had to trust luck and come up with a decent plan as he pressed forward.

“All right, enough’s enough,” he eventually said while separating from the wall, walking then towards the sword. “Can’t let a boy do a man’s job.”

He grabbed the weapon, leaned it on his shoulder and began to walk, determined to reach his dear brother as fast as possible.

“Hey, wait! I’m not done talking yet—”

When he heard V gasp followed by a thumping sound, he automatically stopped to half turn his body towards the invoker. The guy had fallen almost flat on the ground, and was clearly struggling to stand up again. A simple look was enough to conclude that, for the time being, V didn’t present any kind of threat.

“Okay, you get some rest.” This time he turned around to leave for real, not without adding some last words towards the kneeling man. “By the way...I guess owe you one.”

V didn’t answer anything and Dante didn’t stop again, continuing walking forward while thinking that, once again, it seemed that it was just him against Vergil. Just like the good old times.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much extra dialogue in this chapter, since not much happens in the present in this mission. It was fun though to write Dante's thoughts about V :)  
> We'll shift back to V in the next, but there will be more Dante's POV in future chapters. He _has_ to learn about V and Nero being together after all, and properly freak out about it :P


	11. Mission 11

**_June 15 - 11:12 a.m._ **

V didn’t register the last thing that Dante said. His eyes were fixed on the palm of his left hand, where some cracks, still imperceptible, were beginning to appear. Small bits of skin were escaping from them, breaking off his body. They were extremely thin, easily mistakable with dust unless you were paying enough attention, but their presence was enough so that V gulped thickly. It was like witnessing his own life escaping from him. Literally.

When part of his tattoos began to recede, V’s heart skipped a beat. For a terrifying second he thought that his remaining power was going to disappear too, leaving him completely on his own, so he was relieved when it was just Griffon manifesting on his own volition.

“ _Shit_ ,” the bird cawed, flapping his wings next to him. “We’re screwed, huh?”

The invoker managed a humorless laugh while slowly lowering his left hand towards his knee, resting it softly there.

“I couldn’t have summarized it better.” He reached for his cane to raise to his feet, trying to ignore the fact that such action required a bigger effort from him than usual. “But we must catch up to Dante.”

“Uhm, okay, about that, you sure that’s a good idea?”

“He cannot beat Urizen in his state. I really doubt he could even if he teamed up with Nero,” he continued, wondering how such a fragile body could feel so heavy. “If Dante confronts him and loses again, it won’t be just his downfall but ours as well.”

“Yep, he’ll be a dead man if he recklessly attacks like the last time, but what I mean is, ” V offered Griffon an impatient look when the bird stepped in front of him, forcing him to stop not to bump into him, "you really think that Dante is gonna listen to anything you say?”

V frowned.

“Why shouldn’t he? Last time we talked he was rather receptive.”

“Yeah, but listening to intel about the mission is _completely_ different than accepting any kind of advice. And well, call me crazy, but the way he has ditched you right now to go on his way is a pretty loud hint that he doesn’t want more of your help.”

V clicked his tongue, not realizing that Shadow had discreetly appeared under his feet to help him rest against the rocky wall.

“It’s Dante whom we are talking about.” V’s comment was meant to be self-explanatory, but when seeing the bird tilting his head, he remembered his familiars couldn’t read his thoughts, fortunately. “Thinking before acting has always gone against his code. He has _always_ been like that, and as much as he might suspect me, I do not hold any responsibility in his current brainless behavior. Right now, he is merely obsessed to fight Urizen as a pay-back for his previous defeat, and he won’t stop until manages to do so. He’s very similar to Nero in that aspect: stubborn to the point of being annoying.”

Griffon hummed to himself, landing in the closest root while still looking at him.

“Okay, first, you should NOT complain about them, you know? Because you’re just as annoying. Probably _even more_ than them,” Griffon rapidly talked to prevent him from protesting about the completely wrong accusation. “And second, I see your point. We all agree that Dante doesn’t shine for his cool head. But don’t ya think that you trying to murder him twice _maybe_ has something to do with his super hasty runaway?”

V remained silent for a moment, initially not seeing what was wrong with Griffon’s sentence.

“Twice?”

The bird laughed at that, loudly.

“Good one, V. It’s nice to see that you still have spirit to joke—” Griffon’s eyes and beak opened wide when V kept showing a confused expression while looking at his familiar. “W-wait, you aren’t joking? You really don’t remember!?”

V half-closed his eyes, initially not sure if Griffon was the one joking, but the bird’s stupor looked too sincere to be fake.

“Damn.” Griffon exhaled an incredulous chuckle. “Well, I guess it’s not that weird given that you were just a newborn when it happened.”

V didn’t need to demand his familiar to speak clear.

That last mocking comment about his first days in that body had refreshed his memory.

* * *

**_May 4 - 2:13 a.m._ **

The sound of a distant but loud thunder put an abrupt end to V’s fitful sleep. His body spasmed in shock after being forcefully awaken. His eyes, open wide, stared at the darkness surrounding him. V didn’t recognize immediately where he was, but the smell of pizza lingering in the room and the not very comfortable sofa where he was sleeping quickly made him remember.

He exhaled a deep sigh and covered his closed eyes with his right hand. The image of his other half’s birth was still dancing behind his eyelids, as a mocking reminder of who between the two had always had the upper hand within Vergil. He gritted his teeth, aware that, for sure, that wouldn’t be the last night he would be forced to relive that incident.

While lying there, V felt his recently acquired familiars wanting to go out, but he didn’t let them. Shadow wouldn’t be such an unwelcoming companion, but he preferred to avoid Griffon’s constant blabbering. Besides, for sure the bird would remark something about his tired state, and he wasn’t in the mood to deal with that. He was more than aware of the fragility of his current body, and the last thing he needed was that Griffon was constantly reminding it to him.

V clicked his tongue softly and changed into a sitting position, knowing that falling asleep again would be quite an impossible task. He tied his sandals again, avoiding touching the dusty floor with his bare feet as much as he could when doing so. With both of his shoes planted on the floor again, he massaged his temples for some seconds, hoping that by doing so he would delay the upcoming headache.

Some seconds later he stood up and reached for his cane before approaching the stairs leading to the second floor. Thanks to him, the electricity of Devil May Cry office had been restored, but he didn’t turn the lights of the bathroom on, preferring to leave the door ajar. The night was clear despite the storm, and there was enough moonlight so that V could locate the faucet without needing any artificial illumination.

He washed his face and dampened the back of his neck with cold water before cleaning his hands on his own pants. They were probably cleaner than the towel hanging next to the sink, which smelled kind of weird. He was about to return downstairs when he heard something that made him freeze on the spot.

“Vergil _..._ ”

V grabbed his cane with more force when recognizing Dante’s voice coming from the adjacent room. With his heart beating a little faster, V approached with calm steps Dante’s bedroom, whose door wasn’t fully closed. He opened it carefully, just enough to be able to take a glimpse inside, and exhaled a relieved sigh when distinguishing the man’s sleeping figure on the bed.

For a moment, he had thought that perhaps Dante had discovered his identity after some proper thinking, and that had called for his name to have another conversation after hearing him in the second floor. Dante was only talking in his sleep though, and by basing on his strained tone, it didn’t look like a pleasant one.

V remained at the door, hesitating, but eventually brought himself to enter. Dante’s bedroom wasn’t very big, but it was as untidy as the rest of the office. V’s eyes had adapted to darkness already by then, so he could easily avoid the clothes covering the floor. Also, although probably his sandals weren’t the most appropriate shoes to fight, they allowed him to move in complete silence until he was standing next to the bed.

He observed at Dante from above. The man was sleeping facing up, wearing the same t-shirt he had been wearing when V visited him, and most likely no pants. V couldn’t verify that last bit because Dante’s lower body was covered with wrinkled sheets, but there was a pair of trousers carelessly thrown in a chair, and V hardly doubted the man had a change of clothes.

Despite his face-up position, Dante’s head was turned to his left, causing his hair to fall on his face, preventing V from fully seeing it. His hands though were turned into fists, one placed on his stomach and the other leaning on the pillow. His breath was also uneven, confirming V’s suspicions about the man suffering from a bad dream.

“ _Vergil_...”

V gulped when hearing Dante calling for _him_ again. He truly sounded apologetic, almost guilty. Without noticing, V reached forward with his hand, wanting to remove the hair from Dante’s face to properly see his expression. Would Dante look as worried as when he fell from that cliff and Dante stayed standing? Would Dante look as desperate as when he refused the helping hand his brother offered him? Or, on the contrary, he would find _nothing_ in Dante’s eyes, not even a glimpse of recognition, like the last time that they fought when no one of them looked like themselves?

Anger invaded V with the memory of his time as a mere puppet of Mundus, with the thought of Dante having been able to enjoy from a careless life while he went through the humiliation of serving the demon who killed their mother.

He didn’t get to raise his cane to attack Dante. In fact, he could barely think about his wish to kill Dante right then and there. The wave of rage that traversed through him was all it took to put Dante’s instincts in alert, making him wake up.

V’s reflexes weren’t what they used to be in that new body, not to mention that he was still getting used to it. Therefore, he could only feel the world spinning around before his back impacted against a comfy surface. He was still gathering his thoughts when Dante’s weight pinned him against the bed, the man’s left hand grabbing his neck in a warning grip and his right grabbing one of his famous pistols to point it at his head. Did Dante always sleep with a gun under his pillow, or that night was just an exception after V decided to stay? He guessed it wasn’t the best time to ask about it.

The barrel of the gun felt cold against his temple, which contrasted with Dante’s warm body pressing against his. V couldn’t help to notice in the back of his mind that his assumption of Dante’s partial nudity state had been accurate, as irrelevant as that piece of information was to his current situation. At least, he was glad that Dante had enough decorum to sleep with underwear.

“Hey, if you were feeling alone down there, there were other ways to ask me to share the bed, sweetheart.”

Despite the joking component of the comment, the demonic aura emanating from Dante was clearly dangerous, showing that the man was really pissed off, this time with motive. In fact, if their position had been reversed and Vergil had been the one in being woken up in such a way, probably Dante’s body would be already hanging from the opposite wall after having been stabbed with the Yamato.

Dante was, fortunately for V, more merciful, which didn’t mean that Dante couldn’t kill him without hesitation if he didn’t carefully pick his words. So, V leaned both of his hands with their palms facing up on either side of his head in a surrendering gesture.

“I presume I owe you an apology,” he said in a perfectly composed voice.

“Yeah, you could say it that way. But I’m a reasonable man, so I will content myself with an explanation.”

“And I guess that me saying that I wanted to test your abilities when being taken by surprise isn’t very credible, is it?”

His reply caused Dante to scoff.

“Well, I _could_ have believed it, but you missed that chance by choosing to be sassy, so spit it out, V: what were you doing here?”

As ridiculous as his excuse was going to sound, V realized that at that point the truth was his best option.

“I heard you call your brother’s name.”

The lack of proper illumination made difficult to differentiate Dante’s expression, but he could picture it easily thanks to the surprised tone the man used to speak.

“You heard me from downstairs?”

The stupidity of the question caused V to exhale an impatient sigh.

“From the bathroom,” he corrected. “I was having difficulties to sleep as well, so I went to wash my face and when proceeding to come back, I heard you.”

Dante remained silent.

“And then you decided to wake me from my bad dream in an unexpected act of kindness?”

The man’s tone was ironic, but V answered with his usual seriousness.

“That’s correct.” He could also picture Dante’s skeptic expression in the silence that followed, but since he could never come up with a more credible explanation without abandoning his disguise, he decided to use Dante’s usual technique of avoiding problems. “Although I could be simply making up that excuse, and actually my main goal was to discover if your reputation in bed is as outstanding as rumors say.”

By basing on the shocked silence that followed, Dante wasn’t expecting that remark. V suppressed a small smirk, knowing that his simple-minded brother was easily distracted when mentioning the basic topics of money, food or sex. He was confident that bringing up the last one would make Dante unable _not_ to boast, which would put an end to the topic of his presence there.

“Well, I usually like lovers with more curves.” V’s eyes opened in bewilderment when Dante let go his neck and released his weapon to pin both of his wrists against the bed, in a way that made V’s stomach clench unconsciously against his will. “But I must admit, I’m a little curious to hear that voice of yours coming undone.”

V’s whole body tensed, not knowing if Dante’s seduction act was faked or not. During his years observing his brother, Vergil had concluded that Dante was exclusively interested in women, so V would have never guessed the man could take his sarcastic remark seriously. However, several years had passed since Vergil’s last ‘investigation’, if it could be called that way, so perhaps during that time the spectrum of Dante’s preferences had widened.

He was getting ready to invoke his familiars to annihilate Dante in case he dared to get his face closer to him when the devil hunter barked a laugh and released him at once, separating from him to end sitting back on the bed.

“Easy there, Mr. Poetry. I was just kidding,” Dante continued talking through an amused smile but his tone turned serious next. “But for the record, next time I bother you in my sleep, try not to act like a creepy stalker, okay?”

V nodded with perhaps too much solemnity towards Dante.

“You have my word.” He stood up from the bed, adjusted his coat unnecessarily, and bowed his head towards Dante before abandoning the room.

The last thing V heard while climbing down the stairs was a resigned ‘ _Freak_ ’ coming from Dante, followed by the bolt of the bedroom door when the devil hunter closed it tight.

* * *

“Ooh, so now you remember!”

V threw a glare at Griffon when seeing this one poorly suppressing a laugh.

He believed that his lapse of memory was quite justified. After all, that incident that Griffon found so funny had taken place just after his rebirth, when he was still coming to terms with whom he was. Also, the week and half that passed until confronting Urizen for the first time was quite intense, not to mention that he didn’t interact with Dante even once during that time, since he abandoned the office early in the morning without waiting for Dante to wake up. And when Urizen surprised everyone by being even more dangerous than what he believed, making V fear that his plan of defeating him was an impossible task, that irrelevant night conversation had been sent to a logical oblivion.

“I still doubt my behavior can count as an ‘attempt of assassination’, given that Dante stopped me before I could even _think_ about attacking him.”

“Mm, maybe you right and Dante was the one trying to assassinate you, forcing you to try to seduce him to avoid getting killed.”

“I _didn't_ do such a thing.”

“Maybe not on purpose, buuut that's the impression you gave.” The murdering glance V threw at Griffon was enough to make the bird flap his wings conciliatorily. “Okay, okay, I’ll stop teasing you. But for the record, I think that’s a story that the boy would love to hear.”

At any other moment V would have rolled his eyes at Griffon’s knowing comment, but he chose to remain silent while remembering Nero’s [strong jealous reaction](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19270597/chapters/54537967) after he hinted to be remotely interested in Dante, when they arrived at the office in Red Grave after almost a month of being travelling.

He had done so merely to tease Nero, since he didn’t harbor that kind of feelings for his brother. He never did, and not because it was inadequate, or sin. Years of doing the necessary to survive and achieve his goals had turned Vergil’s morals quite lax. Differentiating between good and evil gradually lost its meaning, to the point that Vergil only came to care about what could benefit him or hurt him. He tried to live by such code, at the very least, even if he couldn’t always follow it as strictly as he wanted.

So, regarding Dante, he had never given it a proper thought, but perhaps under other circumstances things could have turned different for them. Perhaps if he and Dante had had more time; or if he hadn’t lost half of his life because of Mundus, serving under him and later recovering from his wounds; or if they had kept crossing swords during _all_ that time, getting in each other ways, becoming unconsciously closer in _another_ way.

Perhaps, in other life, he could have shared with Dante what he now shared with Nero, but V honestly thought such a possibility was slim. Since they were born, rivalry had always been part of what they were, as if it was something implanted in their DNA, and such a thing wasn’t going to change until one of them surrendered, which for them it meant to end dead.

Wanting it or not, confronting Dante had always been Vergil’s main purpose of existing. It was what made his relationship with his brother so incredibly simple, as complicated as it could look in the eyes of others. Because those people could never understand how annoying but at the same time comforting was to have an eternal enemy that always reminded you who you truly were.

He could hate Dante for being their mother’s favorite; for being the son she chose to save when they were in danger; for having voluntarily chosen his weakest human nature over their strongest demonic one, and still manage to be at his level. But despite all that, he owed Dante more than he could ever express aloud.

Until Nero appeared, Dante had been Vergil’s only certainty; his anchor in a world of permanent change; and he knew that killing Dante, that winning against him, would put an irremediable end to what it had been his purpose during all those years. But now, even more than ever, V still felt that necessity of reminding Dante who his sworn enemy was.

And that enemy wasn't Urizen, neither V, but Vergil.

In his human naivety, V had believed that the month he had shared with Nero, that his new-found love for Nero, would help him see things differently. He had changed, after all. He hadn’t planned to, neither wanted to, but it had happened. But what Vergil and Dante were, and that eternal need of competition to prove who was the strongest, the best, _that_ would never change.

Besides, as much as he preferred not to think about it for the pressure it caused in his chest and throat, his relationship with Nero could very much be destroyed by his own self when being complete again. Perhaps losing Nero was unavoidable at that point, but he still could make sure that his brother survived to have something remotely worthy to live for.

Would those battles against Dante be enough to make him forget about Nero? Absolutely not. But it was better than being left on his own once again, just with the memories of having had something precious just to have it taken away from him again, this time ironically by him.

“We should proceed.” At least, his tone was firmer than his walking, V self-mockingly thought when being forced to constantly use his cane to walk. “We cannot allow that Dante and Nero are killed for being utter fools.”

His familiars must have detected his lingering worry in that last reproaching comment, because Shadow suddenly appeared under him, beginning to guide him forward.

“We won’t let that happen, V,” Griffon said with determination. “And if worse comes to worst, I swear I’ll bring that idiot back even if it’s the last thing I do.”

Despite he was far from feeling okay, physically and much less mentally, a faint smile escaped V.

“Which idiot you are referring to?”

Griffon snorted.

“You have a point: I swear I’ll bring BOTH idiots back to you, ‘kay?”

V chuckled weakly and nodded, somehow knowing that Griffon would honor that promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, that somewhat Dante/V scene wasn't planned but it wildly appeared ^^U  
> Just two chapters until the main Sparda trio is reunited again! :))


	12. Mission 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coming back to a longer chapter than usual since we have three different POV here :)

**_June 15 - 11:07 a.m._**

All those missions Nero had carried out during his time as a Knight of the Order of the Sword, especially the ones that required to sweep the area of the Mitis Forest, had allowed him to develop a remarkable orientation ability. Therefore, he was surprised when finding difficulties while trying to reach the center of Urizen’s den again.

It took him a few minutes of wandering around the dark place until he noticed what the problem was. Apparently, the Qliphoth hadn’t only grown during the time they had been out of Red Grave, but it had also changed shaped inside, so the map that Nero had memorized from his first visit was completely useless. It was as if he was in alternative version of the Qliphoth, with demons more powerful than the first inhabitants that had been plaguing the tree a month ago.

He spent almost an hour wandering around. The loss of his devil bringer had greatly affected his capacity of sensing demons, but his experience helped him to intuitively know he was in the good track. Besides, in case of doubt, there always was the never-failing strategy of choosing the routes with more enemies.

At some point, after wasting a lot of time trying to find an alternative path, he was forced to enter some weird portals in order to be able to go forward. Using them was gross, since he ended drenched in blood, but at least they allowed him to travel extremely fast through the tree bloodstream. The only thing he hoped was that V’s familiars were able to follow his trail in that maze, which turned more chaotic with each step.

He had just resigned himself to V getting angry at him for not having stuck to the plan of waiting at the entrance of the tree when he spotted a telephone booth that had been practically destroyed. He approached, not sure if he would be able to contact Nico from there. Surprisingly, the coverage inside that gigantic tree was decent, so he marked the memorized number of Nico’s van and waited for the woman to pick up the call.

“So, think you can make it all the way here?” he inquired while his eyes were dragged towards a magazine that had been abandoned there.

“ _Duh, who do you think you’re talking to?_ ”

Nico’s offended voice indicated that she would do the impossible to reach him. He was rather sure that the woman wouldn’t have much difficulties to break her way through without having to use those stinky portals. However, it would probably take her more than usual to join him, so he put himself comfortable in an upper ledge with the intention of flipping through that magazine.

He dozed off without noticing while doing so, since he was woken up by the loud sound of the van’s wheels beating up the ground. He stretched his arms while yawning, feeling dizzy after the unplanned nap. His sleepy state didn’t last, since slipping off the ledge was a good method to make him be completely awake once again. At least, his reflexes allowed him to recover quickly enough to land safely, so by when Nico’s honking van appeared, he was standing straight, as if a second ago he hadn’t been about to ridiculously kiss the ground with his forehead.

“Damn, I think you’ve taken that ‘bathing in the blood of your enemies’ thing way too literally,” Nico said mockingly when Nero entered the vehicle.

“It was the only way to advance,” he threw the magazine towards the sofa carelessly before removing his coat together with his sword. "Did you have much trouble arriving here?”

“Nah, it was a piece of cake,” Nico said while stretching her hands over her head. “We bumped into some pretty annoying enemies, but nothing this baby car can’t handle on his own—w-wait, Nero, the bathroom is—!”

By when he could understand Nico’s warning, he had already opened the door of the occupied bathroom where Lady was showering, causing the very-naked woman to let out a shocked cry. He quickly closed the door again after cursing and babbling an embarrassed ‘sorry’, but apparently apologizing wasn’t enough for Lady because at that moment a bullet pierced through the door, mere inches over his head.

“ _HEY_!” Nico snapped from the driver seat, approaching the bathroom with quick steps. “Dammit, Lady, are you insane or what!?”

Nero was about to effusively agree with Nico when the craftswoman pushed him away from the door, in order to better examine the last.

“Fuck, I reformed this door less than a week ago and now I have to do it again!” Nero looked at Nico in stupor while the woman knocked brusquely at the door. “I’m gonna charge the extra painting to you, you hear me!?”

“Are you fucking serious?” Nero exhaled an incredulous snort, signaling at his head repeatedly with his index. “She’s been about to blow my head up and you worry about that damn door?”

“Mm?” Nico said distractedly, as if she had just noticed that small detail. “Well, yeah! I mean, for sure this door is more fragile than your sturdy skull.”

Nero opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before snorting.

“Shit, with friends like you who needs enemies.” He knocked then at the door while Nico looked at him without understanding his indignation. “And you, why the fuck are you showering with a damn gun?”

“I think it’s evident: in order to scare perverts like you away!”

“I’m _not_ a pervert!”

“Please, the van is not that big. If I wasn’t on view it was evident where I was.”

“And why the hell didn’t you use the _bolt_?”

“Why the hell you didn’t _knock_?”

“God, you know what? The next time a fucking flying monster eats you I’m not saving you.”

“First, I didn’t ask for _your_ help. Second, I _already_ thanked you for it. And third, if you think that saving me gives you the right to spy on me,” Nero got pale when hearing Lady reloading her gun from inside, “maybe the next time I’ll point at your dick. And when that happens, it won’t be a warning shot.”

Nero gulped and rapidly separated from the door, without noticing Nico poorly suppressing a laugh.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry, but I swear it wasn’t on purpose,” he insisted, obtaining an unconvinced scoff coming from the bathroom.

“Yeah, he’s telling the truth.” His eyes turned to Nico in surprise when the woman suddenly stood up for him. “I mean, look at the bony boyfriend he has got for himself. It’s evident that his tastes are now a liiittle different.”

Nero glared at Nico as this one stuck out her tongue while dropping on the sofa in front of him. He shook his head with resignation, taking a seat in one of the close chairs. He would have liked to reply that, leaving his damn tastes aside, he was not the kind of guy who would stalk anyone, but he lost that chance when the door of the bathroom was opened. Lady stepped outside with a towel wrapped around her body. He tensed when the female demon hunter looked at him, wondering if he should apologize again, but she talked with a light guilty tone without giving him time to do that.

“I guess I overreacted a little,” she admitted, offering him a small teasing smile. “Sometimes I forget that the only thing you share with Dante is the appearance.”

Nero frowned.

“What? I’m not _that_ similar.”

Lady remained silent, surprising Nero by sweeping his hair back for a moment before releasing it.

“Yes, you are. To both of them.”

Nero’s frown accentuated. He was about to ask the woman what she meant with that when a distant tremblor made him remember that he had more urgent matters to attend.

“Looks like we’re closer than we thought,” Nero also guessed that cleaning his clothes a little could wait after his confrontation with Urizen, since he doubted coming unscathed from the battle. “Could you take a quick look at my breakers?”

The last question was addressed to Nico, who nodded before trotting towards her workspace. It was then when the craftswoman, late as usual, told him that they had gone to assist V in the graveyard. Since Nico, the weapon fanatic, didn’t mention a single thing about that sword V was seeking, he guessed the invoker hadn’t found it yet.

“Oh, and your boyfriend left some green orbs behind, so you should take them with ya.”

Nero, who was about to retort that V had a name and that she could stop calling him ‘his boyfriend’, looked at Nico with curiosity while she got to work behind her desk.

“Did he forget them?”

Nico shook her head no, but it was Lady the one who answered after exiting the bathroom, dressed just in her long shirt.

“He gave them to me.” She signaled then a fading injury in her arm. “It helped it to heal faster.”

Nero’s eyes opened more with surprise. During their journey, Nero had seen through V’s façade, discovering quite soon that the invoker wasn’t the cold-hearted guy he tried so hard to be. Nero had watched V save several people as they travelled together, but truth was that for him to intervene, it had to be a life or death situation. So, the discovery of V being willing to discard a valuable item for the sake of helping someone who wasn’t in mortal danger was something quite unusual.

“Oi, stop daydreaming about your creepy gothic.” Nico’s mocking comment made him focus on the woman again. “Your arms are ready to be _used_. And I’ve emphatically said USED, not DESTROYED, ‘kay?”

Nero snorted, taking the devil breakers with him while Nico heartlessly took note of the money he owed her.

“Sorry to tell you this, Nico, but if I have to choose between destroying an arm and let that asshole destroy the world, I’ll have to pick the first.”

Nico sighed exaggeratedly.

“You and your excuses.”

Nero shook his head and was about to turn around when Nico surprised him by grabbing his hood, forcing him to stop on his tracks not to be strangled. He muttered the woman’s name with annoyance and turned around to protest, but he stayed silent when seeing that Nico’s usually cheery expression looked quite serious.

“Be careful, ‘kay? That Urizen is dangerous. So, I don’t care about your wounded honor or any shit like that: if worse comes to worst, stuff your pride up your ass and come back to us even if it means running away, you hear me? Because although I’m awesome, if he rips your head off your body for not being careful, _that_ I won’t be able to fix it easily. And I won’t forgive ya if you make me lose my reputation of best craftswoman because of that.”

Nico’s words were as brusque as usual, but there was an obvious worry in her tone that made Nero be equally serious while settling a hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“I’m not gonna die,” he talked with conviction, looking at Nico in the eyes while saying so, but when noticing the woman’s shoulders were still tense, he offered a smirk to the woman. “Besides, I have a ‘sturdy skull’, remember? It will take more than some demonic roots and weird beams to crack it.”

Nico snorted, nodding while looking more relaxed than before.

“‘Kay.” She cleared her throat and snapped his hand away before brusquely signaling towards the door. “And now go already. You have a demon to beat and a world to save, so chop-chop!”

Nero could have mentioned something about him being delayed because Nico was worrying too much, or said something about the faint blush that had appeared on her cheeks, but he simply nodded and turned around, deciding he would tease her for all that when everything was over.

Lady told him an encouraging ‘ _Good luck, Shocker_ ’ when he passed by her side. She also assured him they would keep the area clean so that V could join them without trouble, which comforted Nero. One thing was that he avoided to show concern about V’s state when being around him, and another that he didn’t worry.

Once he was outside the van, it only took Nero five minutes to find that crack in the wall that would lead him to where Urizen was waiting. The demonic power that emanated from it was even stronger than the one Nero felt the first time he was there, but _he_ had become stronger too. So, when he entered and saw the so-called Demon King sitting on his throne, as if he hadn’t moved an inch during all that time, the confidence he showed wasn’t pretended in the least.

“Hey, douchebag, miss me?” he walked until he was in the middle of the room to look around. “Where’s Dante? No body? No dried-up Dante jerky? Nothin’?”

He had barely finished talking when Urizen intervened.

“You’ve come here to die?”

The demon’s cavernous, inexpressive voice made quite difficult to differentiate how he was feeling, that was if that mess of roots was able to feel anything.

“He talks. Urizen, huh? I bet your parents didn’t like you much. ‘cause your name sucks.”

It wasn’t his best, most imaginative insult, but it was enough so that some annoyance slipped in the demon’s condescending voice. So, the bastard was able to show emotions. At least, of the bad kind.

“I am without a name. I am power, absolute.”

“Well, No Name,” Nero unsheathed his sword, “I’ll be sure to put that on your tombstone.”

“You will suffer…And... die.”

Nero gritted his teeth when the demon extended his arm with the clear intention of fighting him without moving, once again. That arrogant bastard who was so comfortably sitting in that joke of a throne was so full of himself that he didn’t plan to lift his heavy ass from his seat to fight him. Well then, he was just gonna teach him a lesson for underestimating him _again_.

“I’ll show you dead weight.”

Urizen’s attacks didn’t differ too much from the ones he used during their first battle, though they were more destructive. Despite his agility, being constantly jumping and crouching from one side to the other to avoid all the projectiles was tedious. The number of beams that that red crystal threw was insane, which combined with the fire bolts Urizen lazily invoked made difficult to approach to properly strike it.

At the end, Nero had to depend more on his devil breakers and his fire gun to shatter that damn crystal into pieces. When that happened, he finally had an opening to lunge against Urizen, using all his strength to cut the demon’s hand with his sword. He had barely delivered the blow when Urizen bitch-slapped him, making him slide through the ground, arising dust in the process.

His coughs turned into tired laughs before straightening his position with difficulty.

“It’s about time I landed somethin’.”

Urizen remained silent, slowly turning the palm of his injured hand to stare at it.

“Weak mortal. Demon power does not course through your veins. Yet, you try.” Urizen slowly started to stand up. “How dare you strike ME!?”

The pang of pride Nero experienced after having made that bastard take him seriously enough to abandon his comfy seat didn’t last much.

“The hell…!?” he muttered, staring with his eyes open wide how blood began to resurface from the ground after the demon abandoned his throne.

“You will regret...being born useless and human. I will show you...your worst nightmares…”

When Urizen resumed his speech, Nero’s remaining doubts about Urizen being able to feel were eradicated, since rage was present in each one of the demon’s words.

He managed to keep still while Urizen’s imposing figure approached him. Each one of Urizen’s steps felt like a small earthquake that shook the foundations of the place. The closer Urizen was, the more Nero was forced to raise his face in order to be able to meet the demon’s face.

“I will give you...despair and death!”

Urizen stopped in front of him, raised to his full, inhuman height, and when Nero realized with horror that the wound it had taken him so much to deliver had already healed, fear invaded him. Because, maybe this time, his stubbornness wouldn’t be enough to get him out that situation alive.

* * *

**_11:34 a.m._**

By when V was able to reach Dante, after this one killed that Knight he was unable to finish off some hours ago, the devil hunter had somehow got himself a motorbike that he proceeded to mount before throwing a goodbye ‘ _Take care of Trish for me_ ’ towards him. Dante refusing to count on V was an outcome he had already discussed with Griffon, so the bird followed the man without waiting for V to give him the order, leaving him behind struggling to stand up.

When being on his feet again, V’s eyes stopped on Trish’s naked figure on the ground. He suppressed a gulp. It wasn’t the first time he saw Trish, since Vergil had come across her in several occasions after Mundus created her, but still it was a little confusing to see someone who was like an exact copy of his mother, in appearance at least.

They were again in a residential area, so V didn’t have much trouble in finding a blanket in one of the surrounding, abandoned houses to cover Trish with it. There wasn’t much that he could do besides waiting for Griffon to come back. Proceeding further when he was only able to count with Shadow wasn’t wise, and although he still had Nightmare in case he was ambushed, he doubted he had the energy to invoke the golem when the simple act of walking a little fast already stole his breath away.

V was about to sit on the ground when Shadow manifested to approach one of the destroyed trucks that had been abandoned around the place. V frowned with confusion when the familiar reappeared dragging a couple of dusty wheels with his tentacles. When Shadow piled a wheel on the top of the other, V was about to reproach the familiar that perhaps it wasn’t the best moment to play. However, the panther simply growled and perched himself on the wheels with his two front paws briefly, signaling at him next with his head.

V blinked with surprise and approached the wheels to sit on them, which made Shadow nod his head approvingly. A self-mocking chuckle escaped V.

“I really look that bad, don’t I?” Shadow lowered his head in disappointment when hearing his ironic tone, so V rubbed his head. “Thank you. It’s a pretty decent seat.”

Shadow purred, satisfied, and lied at his feet by resting his head over his front paws. Out of habit, V extracted his poetry book to prevent his mind from running free. He didn’t manage. The mere passive action of just being there was a shameful reminder of how useless he was. Everyone was doing something to stop Urizen’s plans, being it gaining time like Nero, killing its remaining allies like Dante, or simply offering support like Nico or Lady.

In the meantime, he was simply ‘watching over’ an unconscious woman that needed absolutely no protection, and much less from him. For sure Dante knew that, and the fact that the devil hunter had assigned him such an unnecessary task just to get rid of him was quite humiliating. It made his crave to become complete even more powerful, in order to remind Dante that if he was alive, it was because Vergil had wanted it that way, and for _nothing_ more.

Trish gasping softly at that moment put an end to those last thoughts. V watched her out of the corner of his eye in silence, seeing how she sat on the ground while keeping the blanket against her body.

“Dante’s left…”

“Yes…” He answered softly not to startle her, but he did it nevertheless, making the woman look at her left while he absentmindedly passed the page of his book, wanting to pretend he had been reading instead of reflecting about his lack of worth. “And I don’t think he can win.”

Trish was still recovering from her slumber, because her voice sounded weaker than usual.

“What was that demon, V? Where did it come from? Urizen is not a demon. I know that for a fact because I’m from the underworld.”

V unconsciously clenched his jaw when hearing Trish’s determined claim. He hadn’t foreseen that she could be so perceptive. He was thinking how he could answer in a credible way without having to reveal too much when Trish talked again, as if she had just had a revelation.

“My God, what are you, then?”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m a shadow of my former self who lost everything.”

He had the intention of leaving it at that. Somehow, he felt that, unlike Nero or Dante, the woman wouldn’t press him more to talk. Therefore, he was the first surprised when the next words escaped his lips after closing his book.

“I will tell you the story of my birth.”

He honestly didn’t know what made him change his mind to talk openly when that’s what he had been avoiding doing with everyone else. Perhaps it was the fact that he saw the end close, and he needed to be honest about who he truly was just for once, even if it was just with a stranger, or precisely because of it. Or perhaps Trish’ calm aura made her resemblance with his mother even more evident, making him be comfortable enough to be completely transparent for the first time since he woke up in that frail body, probably even before that.

“In separating and regaining my human soul, I’ve realized the gravity of the crime I’ve committed,” he concluded after several minutes of being talking, while Trish patiently listened to him without interrupting him even once. “I’ve realized how important everything was. Everything I’ve thrown away in my pursuit of power.”

He averted his eyes when pronouncing the last bit with frustration. Saying he didn’t want power anymore would be an utter lie. He hated being so weak, and useless, and expendable. But unlike his past self, who had forced himself to discard everything that didn’t help him to obtain it, now there were things that he couldn’t keep ignoring anymore. Such as what Urizen would cause if he wasn’t stopped, or about what could happen to Nero if the boy had been his old reckless self and had refused to wait, something that V felt it had happened.

“Is that why you went to find Dante?” the woman inquired at that moment with a soft tone, making V nod.

“Yes. Foolish. I thought maybe he could change my…” _Fate_ , “maybe fix…” _What we could never fix when being younger_. “Maybe right my wrong,” he eventually said, deciding to focus on Vergil’s last mistake of creating Urizen. “Tell me…” He stood up, forcing the woman to raise her face a little to look at him. “Was this fool before you right?”

The word ‘mother’ was about to escape him at the end, when the concern he saw in Trish’s expression made him forget for a moment who she was. However, her next words confirmed V that she had caught his almost-slip, even if he had stopped talking in time.

“I’m not your mommy, V. You’re a big boy.” She stood up as well and turned around while releasing the blanket, making her clothes appeared in her body once again. “And you need to see this through. Dante’s war.”

When she passed him by, V thought that she was going to leave him behind just like Dante. Just like everyone. So, he was surprised when Trish suddenly stopped, turned around, and faced him while leaning her left hand on her hip.

“What you’ve just told me, does Dante know about it?”

V shook his head.

“I couldn’t risk revealing him my identity and that his wish to fight Vergil led him to attack me. In this form, I wouldn’t have stood a chance.”

Trish nodded to herself before continuing.

“I think you should tell him. I haven’t met Vergil myself, but for what I’ve heard from Dante and Lady, I believe you are more approachable, which means that this may be your only chance to talk things through.”

V tried not to tense when hearing the last suggestion, but his attempt of calm, ironic tone came up a little forced, something that Trish would surely notice as well given her scary intuition.

“I hardly doubt we could find a proper topic to discuss. Twenty-five years of separation can cool off even the best of the relationships, and ours wasn’t even good to begin with.”

“Then there’s even more reason to properly catch up.”

Trish’s sudden insistence mixed with her choice of words made V grit his teeth through the tense smile he was displaying.

“I’m afraid that hearing about Dante’s wild parties isn’t an entirely appealing plan.”

He doubted that Trish was the less bothered by his sarcastic reply, but he wasn’t expecting the way she exhaled an incredulous soft laugh.

“So that’s what you think he did while you disappeared? To live in a continuous spree?” She crossed her arms while shaking her head. “Oh my, there’s no doubt you two are brothers. You are both incredibly dense.”

V half-closed his eyes, detecting some reproach behind Trish’s light words. He opened his mouth, but he wasn’t sure about what to ask. He wasn’t even sure about wanting to ask, something that Trish seemed to detect because after sighing again, she talked with resignation.

“Well, as I’ve said, I’m not your mother, so you should make your own decisions. But if, by any chance, you wished to change that simplistic vision you have of Dante, perhaps you should ask him to show you his left hand.”

V raised an eyebrow.

“And why should I do that?”

“Because perhaps you’d happen to see a scar there.”

“Given Dante’s natural speed of recovery, I don’t think an injury of that kind has lasted so much.”

“You have a point, but perhaps he doesn’t allow it to heal.”

This time it was V the one who exhaled a sigh, beginning to feel annoyed for the more and more pointless conversation.

“And why would Dante do something so stupid?”

Trish’s small smile took him by surprise, though it was nothing compared with the way his heart skipped a beat when the woman continued talking with conviction.

“Because perhaps he isn’t able to forgive himself for only obtaining a scar when a fate way more unfair fell on his brother. Perhaps he decided to keep that mark as a punishment, as a reminder to never forget what he lost that day for not being brave enough to chase it.”

V gulped thickly while grabbing his cane with more force, the new light Trish had brought upon his brother being too unexpected to fully assimilate it.

“Did Dante tell you that?”

Trish was about to nod but at the last second she simply chuckled.

“Yes, although not on purpose. His tongue happens to be looser when he drinks too much, and in his sleep.”

V was about to ask how Trish knew about that last habit, but he rapidly connected the dots.

“I see,” he simply said, feeling certain admiration towards his brother for having managed to bed a woman who was clearly out of his league.

As irrelevant as it was, V was considering the option of inquiring more about the nature of that relationship when Trish uncrossed her arms to signal in front of them.

“We should go. There won’t be much left to witness if we don’t reach Dante in time.”

“And Nero,” V corrected her, making the woman’s eyes to open more.

“What? He has gone to face Urizen too?”

V looked at Trish with surprise when her tone suddenly sounded a little apprehensive.

“Yes, but he’s only gaining time until we arrive. In theory,” he added the last part, since he knew how easy to rile up Nero could be when his pride was at stake.

Trish took a deep breath, opened her mouth as if she was about to say something, but at the last moment she shook her head negatively and turned around instead, walking with a faster pace that forced V to invoke Shadow’s trail to keep her rhythm.

“We must be quick then. We must prevent him from killing Urizen at any cost.”

V didn’t entirely understand Dante and Trish’s insistence of leaving Nero out of the mission. The boy was far from being incompetent after all, so he simply assumed that the older devil hunters’ reluctance came from an excess of overprotectiveness. However, Trish’s wish to stop Nero from delivering an (unlikely) mortal blow suited well to his plans, so he decided to keep his own opinions for himself and focusing on following the woman through the broken road.

* * *

**_11:45 a.m._**

Dante perfectly knew where his steps were taking him the more he advanced towards Mr. Demon King, but still, when staying in front of the remains of a house that once was his home, he couldn’t prevent a brief strike of nostalgia.

“Holy shit...Can’t believe any of this is still standing…”

Like some kind of poetic coincidence, it started to rain again when Dante’s eyes stopped in the family portrait hanging crooked in the wall. Dante stared at the picture, remembering how damn boring it was to pose for it. He didn’t stop complaining during the whole process, especially when Vergil elbowed him when he couldn’t suppress his yawns. When seeing the finished picture, he had feared that his mother would get angry at him. However, she only laughed, saying that the face of complete boredom that he was displaying was very like him.

The portrait was heavily damaged now, and the only face that had remained intact was his mother’s, as if time had considered that, among the four, she was the only one who deserved to be preserved. Dante thought it was fair. As much as it sucked, for the ones who had wanted to get revenge of Sparda, it had sense to want to eliminate his offspring. It was a way to guarantee that there wasn’t anything that remained from their father’s impressive power. But their mother? Shit, she was only human. She was inoffensive, and never posed any risk for anyone. The only mistake she made was loving someone who, at the end, wasn’t good enough to be there to protect her when it mattered.

If there was someone who hadn't deserved to die, it was their mother. _That_ was probably the only topic Vergil and him would always agree on.

“There you are…”

At that moment V’s crow appeared, gasping for air. At least, he seemed to have learnt his lesson and kept his distance from him before talking again.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you?”

Dante didn’t listen to the bird, continuing looking at the picture while approaching. Sparda had been absent by when it was painted, so only he, Vergil and their mother were posing at the time and their father was added afterwards, thanks to an old photography their mother kept of her husband. However, by then their father had already given both Vergil and him the swords that had been accompanying them during most part of their life.

“The demonic power was activated in me once when Vergil lovingly jammed this through my chest.” He reached for what remained of his sword and looked at it, continuing thinking aloud. “I always wondered...why did my father give me the Rebellion?”

Griffon huffed tiredly from his left.

“Okay, what are you muttering?”

He exhaled a short incredulous laugh as realization washed over him.

“Over the years I’ve been stabbed and jabbed by a number of things. But who would’ve ever guessed…”

There was a habit that Dante had developed with the years, and that consisted of basing his decision-making in what his instincts told him. Some people he knew considered that a flaw. _Most part_ of the people he knew, to be more precise. They sometimes reproached him that he should think more before acting, and that the fact that he was usually lucky (yeah, there it was luck again stealing his glory) didn’t mean that his intuition wouldn't fail him one day, making him end dead.

Dante understood their point of view. He may have fun teasing Trish and calling her ‘mother hen’ because she worried too much, but he knew that the acting-without-thinking approach could be dangerous. Because as good as his instincts were, they didn’t always work, and when they failed...Damn. The result could be _very_ painful. And okay, he was no softie. He didn’t mind a little of pain here and there, and in certain circumstances, it even helped spice things a little, making them more interesting, but he was pretty sure that the pain he would get for a bad read of the situation was of the kind he would _not_ enjoy.

However, no matter the catastrophic consequences that throwing himself into danger could carry, he knew it was a price he wouldn’t mind paying. Ending heavily injured or even in the brink of death for doing something reckless was preferable than thinking too much and not acting in time or doing it too late. Once in the past he had been too slow to decide; too slow to move; too slow to reach. And then, when all that failed, he was too coward to take the jump. Literally.

His ‘prudence’ of that day was something he would always regret. It was a mistake that he swore to himself _never_ repeat again. And such resolve was what allowed him to dig his own sword in his body without the least hint of hesitation. He knew that in case of being wrong, he would have to spend a nasty time until he could properly heal up, but what the hell: you’d never get the biggest prize if you didn’t risk yourself a little.

“Have you lost your mind!? There’s a demon to destroy! Kill yourself later! I’ll help!”

The fact that he was pretty used to be beaten (as lame as it sounded) didn’t mean that having a blade piercing his insides didn’t hurt as hell, so he hissed the next words while that burning pain spread through his stomach.

“If the Yamato can separate man from devil, then what about the Rebellion?”

With a last groan, he continued pressing the blade until he felt the hilt against his skin. At that moment, an overwhelming heat began to spread inside. It felt as if lava had replaced the blood of his veins, making him combust. The feeling was kind of similar to devil triggering, but way more intense and way less controllable.

The flood of power that coursed through him when his body began to absorb the Sparda was like the building of an orgasm. It started slow, then gradually picked up speed, and then you could almost savor the imminent peak. The transition was not orgasmic, and the growl that he let out when his new form was violently unleashed wasn’t precisely of ecstasy. However, the brief calm that followed it, that sensation of completion, was as good and liberating as the afterglow of a good lay.

Probably Mr. Poetry would have been able to describe it better, or at least more elegantly, but that comparison worked well for Dante, even if it would have gained him more than a roll of eyes in case of having expressed it aloud. 

After the transformation was complete, Dante spent some seconds breathing laboredly, getting used to his new body. The same as when being in his usual devil trigger form, he conserved his capacity of reasoning, but his demonic powers were potentiated, which increased the probabilities of being driven by his pure, more primal instincts. In that form, the effect was much stronger, and Dante had to fight the voice that was encouraging him to come backwards to finish off the demons that had surely appeared again in the area.

However, when detecting Urizen’s presence without even having to try, when he _smelled_ the Demon King’s crave of power, Dante didn’t hold back. Before his brain could catch up to what his body was doing, he had already abandoned the manor with an inhuman jump, breaking part of the ground and the ceiling for the force of the impulse.

The next thing he registered was that he had landed in front of Urizen, severing some of its tentacles in the process.

“Who dares interfere?”

Dante extended his wings while rising in the air to be at Urizen’s level. He effortlessly destroyed the tentacles the demon threw at him, causing the first to bend slightly and groan in annoyance.

“What creature stands against a king!?”

Dante released the severed tentacles, and that’s when he finally realized it wasn’t just Urizen and him in the room.

“Is that... a demon?"

He held himself back from looking back when Nero continued talking in a weakened voice that showed he was about to faint, preferring not to lose sight of Urizen. Truth to be told, he hadn't even noticed the kid’s presence when he entered the place. Urizen’s aura was so massive that it overshadowed everything else, so he guessed that, this time, he had to thank his luck for not having accidentally crashed against Nero when joining the party.

At that moment, Griffon’s recognizable beating of wings sounded behind him. He was planning to pay the bird no attention, but when hearing the animal huff with difficulty, Dante couldn’t help to throw a glance back.

“Win, Dante, win!”

A momentary relief invaded him when taking a glimpse of the bird lifting Nero from the ground. He had been wondering how he could give his all during the fight without hurting Nero in the process, but with the kid safe, now he didn’t need to worry about destroying their surroundings while fighting.

Dante slowly turned his head to face Urizen again, and after holding his brother’s usual gazing contest he invoked his sword, ready to show that annoying version of Vergil that a comatose month wasn’t enough to stop him from kicking his ass again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably I could skip the parts of the fights against Urizen like I do with the rest of the canon game bosses, but since Urizen is basically 'the final boss' I prefer to keep his parts in the fic out of respect, as little dumb as it may sound xDD
> 
> In the next chapter the three main characters are finally reunited yeeey!! The time for some revelations is close :DD


	13. Mission 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, long chapter because there are three different POV.  
> Some revelations are coming so hope you enjoy reading them <3

**_June 15 - 12:37 p.m._ **

Nero woke up in the van’s sofa, with no idea how he had got there.

He suppressed a grimace when changing into a sitting position, but a painful grunt still escaped him when all the muscles of his body protested for the movement. He leaned his mechanical arm on his knee while using his human one to rub the back of his neck. The action of raising his arm made him feel another pang of discomfort. He felt sore all around, but at least it seemed that all his bones intact. They had been luckier than his devil breakers at least, since those had ended destroyed beyond repair.

‘ _Merely human. Petulant mortal flesh. Cursed... the moment you were brought into this world._ ’

When those words resonated within him Nero clenched his jaw, remembering fragments of his fight against Urizen. Once again, he had been no rival for the demon. A pathetic blow was all what he had managed to land before he was overpowered with an easiness that made him feel frustrated and embarrassed. 

And the worst part wasn’t the injuries, not even having lost for second time. The worst part was that he had felt completely powerless in front of Urizen. He may not have got paralyzed, or blocked, and he somehow managed to pull through, but _damn_ , for the whole time the second assault lasted he had been scared shitless.

When those tentacles grabbed him, and began squeezing him, he had really thought he was gonna die. He had really feared it was gonna be the end, and although part of him had been glad when Dante appeared, it was frustrating that the old man had stolen all the spotlight in such a show-off manner. Again, he owed Dante his life, and that realization only caused that his pride ended even more underground.

“Whoa! You are the infamous Dante!”

Nico’s enthusiastic voice sounded outside the van at that moment. Nero snorted with annoyance when the woman kept talking to Dante as if this one was a damn superstar. He stood up, made the mistake of trying to stretch his body to discover he should _not_ do that yet, and abandoned the vehicle when Dante had barely commented how little alike Nico was to her grandmother.

He was about to interrupt their chatter when he noticed V sitting some meters ahead. His eyes opened more when seeing Trish there, standing next to him with her arms crossed. They were talking in a serious tone when he approached, but he didn’t manage to catch what they were saying because they shut up once he was close enough to hear. 

Trish separated from V then. Nero wouldn't’ have minded asking the woman how she had arrived there, but she simply said a sincere ‘ _I’m glad you’re okay_ ’ when passing by his side before coming back to where Nico was.

Nero had the feeling that Trish had left so quickly to avoid any question about the conversation he was sharing with V. He was already thinking how to ask V about it without sounding nosy when he took a better look at the invoker appearance. His breath caught at his throat when seeing cracks in V’s skin. He made his best not to blurt out the first thing that came to his mind, but his worry must have been evident because V raised his left hand to indicate him to shut up, even if he hadn’t had time to say anything yet.

“Before you overreact: yes, I’m aware how I look; and no, it is nothing to worry about.”

There it was that warning component in V’s voice that indicated he should let the matter go. He remained silent while meeting V’s eyes. He wasn’t gonna lie, he really wanted to ask what the hell was going on, consequences be damned. He wanted to know why V’s skin looked as if it was breaking apart. Had something happened when they separated that V didn’t want to say? Maybe he had exerted himself too much while fighting and that was the result? Or maybe Urizen was involved again? His gut was telling him that the last assumption was the correct one, since everything related to the demon was like a trigger for the invoker that made him be even more cryptic than usual.

However, despite all those questions that rounded his head, Nero opted to drop next to V. Before parting ways, V had assured him he was really counting of him. So, he decided to believe that, whatever was happening to V now, there was nothing he could do to stop it, or otherwise V would let him know in order to help. The same as when V collapsed a few days ago, it sucked not being able to do anything, but he had learnt the hard way that trying to ask V for more of what he was willing to say would cause the man to close himself off even more.

Besides, V had promised him that someday he would tell him everything, which meant that whatever V was going through, it was temporary, and he would learn the truth when the moment came. Who knows, maybe V was right, and he was overreacting.

“Okay. I’ll pretend that you’ve just gained some extra wrinkles while you were away.”

V’s eyes, who had been dug on him while waiting for his reaction, lost part of their harshness as the hint of an amused smile appeared in his mouth.

“It’s not an entirely bad theory.”

Nero snorted with relief, glad for having avoided a fight with the invoker. He hunched a little forward to lean his elbows on his knees while purposely ignoring the fuss Dante was making after Nico gifted him with one of her last inventions (a show that Nico seemed to be enjoying quite a lot given the enthusiastic ‘ _Wooho_ ’s that sounded in the background).

“So, did you have any luck finding that sword?”

He was expecting that the answer was negative, because he hadn’t seen any new weapons on the van, so he raised his eyebrows in surprise when V answered with an affirmative nod.

“It wasn’t very difficult to obtain, and its power was more considerable than we thought.”

V’s choice of words made Nero remember the first time the invoker talked about Urizen, when they were forced to pull back from the fight. He pushed away the new pang of frustration that invaded him to focus on what they were talking about.

“That’s good news then.” He stood up, suppressing a roll of eyes when catching an accidental look at the ridiculous dance Dante was performing god knew why. “Where is it? Can I try it?”

“I’m afraid that’s impossible.” Nero stopped while he was in his way back to the van, and the frown that appeared in his face when hearing V’s negative turned more pronounced as the invoker kept talking. “The sword was absorbed by Dante. Now it forms part of him and only him can wield it, at least that’s what Griffon told me. Speaking of whom, he asked me to tell you that now you owe him ‘big time for saving your ass’.”

At any other moment, Nero would have found funny that V repeated Griffon’s expression, since it didn’t suit the invoker to use that language at all. But at that moment, he could only pay attention to one thing.

“So, from the start, your plan was to give that sword to Dante.”

He had meant it as a question, and he didn’t intend to sound _that_ accusing, but he failed at the two of them, which provoked V to look at him with initial stupor before a matching frown appeared in his face.

“No, Nero. My plan consisted of providing us with an asset that helped us raise our possibilities to succeed in the mission. Period. Other details, such as the person in charge of using it, couldn’t be more irrelevant for the big schema, since the priority is to defeat Urizen without mattering who takes the glory of striking the final blow.”

Nero knew that, this time, he deserved V’s sarcastic, reprimanding comment, but still he couldn’t help to feel _really_ annoyed. He knew that the outcome was the only thing that mattered, but still he had been the one travelling with V, the one fighting alongside him, so _he_ should have been the one in using that ‘asset’ against Urizen. Maybe with that sword in his hands, the result of the fight would have been different, but at the end Dante had been the chosen one who had saved the day. 

It was fucking frustrating.

“I'll take that.”

Nero’s eyes focused on Dante when this one accepted Nico’s gift and turned around to go play the hero on his own. Well, he wasn’t having that. Not anymore.

“Dante!” his call made the man stop to look at him. “I’m gonna go too.”

He felt even more annoyed when seeing the lack of conviction that Dante’s face showed.

“Why don’t you sit this one out?”

“Oh, let you call me dead weight again? No thanks. I’ve got all the power I need. Right here.”

He emphatically raised his devil breaker when saying the last bit, but Dante didn’t look more convinced.

“You don’t understand. It’s not what I mean—”

And now Dante had the nerve of sounding patronizing? Shit, what the hell did that old man think he was: his father? Because like hell if he was going to let Dante dictate what he could or couldn’t do.

“Let him go, Dante,” V intervened before he could give the old man a piece of his mind. “Time is a luxury that we can no longer afford. We must chase after him, post-haste.”

V had already reached them by when he stopped talking. He looked at the invoker, not knowing if feeling grateful because the man had stood by his side, or irritated because V’s intervention seemed to be needed so that Dante was convinced he could help.

“What, does that mean you’re going, too?” Dante asked with a light exasperated tone that didn’t seem to bother V in the least.

“I have a duty to see this through.”

V’s determined tone showed he wasn’t staying behind no matter how many arguments he could come up with, and the next defeated words Dante said proved the man had reached that same conclusion.

“Well that’s all you had to say, Mr. Poetry. I’m gonna go my way, and you guys can go yours. Let’s just say that’s the best for the cause.”

Dante approached his index and forefinger to his head before resuming his walk. The goodbye gesture made Nero remember the last time he saw the man do that, so many years ago. He hated to admit it even nowadays, but if it hadn’t been for Dante back then, he doubted they would have emerged victorious.

Now he felt the same way. After their journey, he thought he had become strong enough to fight on his own, but Dante managing to stand on Urizen’s same ground when he couldn’t be even close to do that had reminded him that he still had ways to go before surpassing the older devil hunter.

The idea of him not being needed for that mission, of being just a ‘dead weight’, was so infuriating that he quickly jumped down without even checking that V was following him.

* * *

“Dante.”

The devil hunter stopped in his tracks when Trish called his name from above. He turned around with a playful smirk, just when the woman when this one was landing on the ground in her usual stylish way, no hair out of place.

“Damn, it’s been a while since so many people required my attentions,” he joked while Trish approached. “I hope it’s quick, though. Usually I wouldn’t mind being delayed by a beautiful lady, but for once I cannot allow myself to be late.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll try to be quick.” As usual, Trish ignored his compliments to talk with a calm tone. “I just wanted to check on you.”

Dante’s eyes opened more for a moment before exhaling a short chuckle.

“Aww, that’s sweet. But as you can see, I’m here in one piece, right? Looking as good as usual.”

“Yes, I can see you are safe and sound,” Trish conceded, crossing her arms while offering Dante an inquisitive look. “But I assume the fight against Urizen wasn’t easy.”

He didn’t change his expression, but the silence that fell before he shrugged was a little longer that it should have.

“Nope, definitely it wasn’t. The new trigger is cool, but it sucks that it just lasts 10 seconds. And damn, the guy could throw some powerful punches. I guess I have to thank luck that my reflexes are so awesome despite my age because—”

“Dante,” Trish only needed to spell his name in that familiar soft tone so that he shut up, “you know that’s not what I meant.”

His smirk didn’t vanish, but it wasn’t as broad as before. Damn, that was the problem with working together for so many years. Trish could see through him _way_ too easily, no matter how hard he tried. In fact, he suspected that the times where she didn’t, it was because she pretended not to.

“It was weird,” he admitted, scratching the back of his head, “and kinda disappointing. It’s evident Vergil’s there, and I can still feel him. But fighting him in that form is completely different, you know? It didn’t feel like us at all, not during the first time and much less during this one.”

He didn’t know how to express it better, but Trish didn’t inquire further, as if she knew it was something that belonged to Vergil and him alone, and that only they could understand it.

“Why didn’t you tell Lady and me who Urizen was when we first went after him?” she asked instead, causing Dante to cross his arms.

“Because I wanted to verify that V wasn’t lying. And by when I could do that, Urizen kicked our asses so hard that we didn’t have time to talk about it.”

“And if we had had time, would you have told us?”

Dante was about to nod but Trish’s skeptic expression made him shrug his shoulders.

“Maybe not. With how worrywart you are sometimes, maybe you’d have tried to find another way so that I didn’t have to kill him to put an end to this mess.”

Trish nodded and averted her eyes from a moment, as if she was carefully thinking her next words.

“Yes, I guess there are certain things that are better kept as secrets.” Trish’s eyes dug in him with curiosity. “Speaking of which, hasn’t V mentioned anything relevant when you three were talking?”

“Nope, just that he didn’t want to miss the party.” He tilted his head with curiosity. “Why? Is there something I should know about him?”

“Yes. He’s your brother.”

The serene tone that Trish used didn’t allow Dante to be prepared for the bomb that was thrown with those mere four words.

“What?” he blurted out after several seconds of shocked silence. He guessed that his expression must look way less calm than he thought because Trish kept talking with an even more serene tone, as if she feared that he began to panic or something even if he would _never_ do something that childish.

“To be precise, he’s your brother human half, who Vergil discarded by using Yamato in order to become more powerful.”

Trish remained silent to let the information sink in. It was evident that she had the intention of talking more, but the curse that Dante muttered before flopping back against the closest wall seemed to tell her she didn’t need to add anything else.

In fact, that last explanation had been unnecessary, because the moment the word ‘brother’ left Trish mouth to address V, Dante had already connected all the dots that had been bothering him since the first time he saw the invoker in his door.

Damn, how could he have been so blind not to see it sooner? Because there had been a good number of clues: that aura of familiarity coming from V that he hadn't managed to explain, the fact that V knew so much about him, those familiars that now he realized he had faced before. Come on, Vergil (or V, damn, now he didn’t know how to call him) hadn’t even been imaginative enough to come up with a proper name. The next time anyone (the ladies or Morrison) laughed at _his_ alias he would remind them about his clever brother using his name’s initial to go on disguise…

...although now that he thought better about it, _he_ had been stupid enough not to deduce who V really was, despite how evident it was now, so maybe he shouldn’t mention _anything_ about it. Yeah, he wouldn’t mention the topic at all. He didn’t want to give the others a new reason to laugh at him, given they always found plenty of them.

“Holy shit,” Dante muttered, looking at Trish again. “Damn, you haven't lost your touch in leaving me speechless.”

Trish chuckled softly.

“Yes, but this time the merit isn’t mine.” She leaned against the wall next to him. “I’m sorry if I was too blunt, but I didn’t know how to deliver the news with more delicacy.”

Dante snorted.

“Please, babe, you should know already that I love when you are blunt.”

He was left momentarily without air when Trish elbowed him, making him begin to cough while bending forward.

“Okay, I guess I deserved that.”

“Yes, you did,” she said while he kept coughing, continuing when he recovered his breath. “So, now that you know who V is, are you going to talk to him?”

Dante cleared his throat to pretend he was still recovering his breath.

“I don’t know. Vergil and I have never been the talking type.”

“That’s true, and that’s why I think that you should do it with his more reasonable part.”

“You mean ‘the reasonable part’ that tried to stab me in my sleep?”

“...Did V do that?”

“Yeah. Twice.”

“Well, but he only ‘tried’, right?” Dante blinked once, slowly, but Trish’s tone didn’t lose one bit of its confidence. “He didn’t manage to stab you, which proves that I’m right and he’s quite more reasonable than Vergil.”

“You know, I don’t like that logic. It’s scary.”

“But sound.”

“‘Sound’ my ass, but still, even if one of my brother’s parts is merciful enough for _just trying_ to stab me, it’s been decades since we last talked, okay? _Decades_. In plural. I mean, what I’m supposed to say to him?”

He wasn’t expecting the amused look she threw at him.

“V said something quite similar. It’s evident that communication is not the strongest point of the Sparda.”

Dante snorted.

“Yeah, I’m afraid that the ability of having a civilized chat was lost with our mother.” Dante looked at Trish with curiosity. “So you also tried to convince V about having a heart-to-heart chat with his little brother?”

“Yes,” she said with a matter of fact tone, ignoring the irony of his previous remark, “and I also gave him a piece of advice that I hope he follows.”

“Why do I have the feeling that you won’t want to tell me about it?”

“Very well deduced, Dante, I won’t.”

He sighed in defeat before shaking his head.

“I don’t know, Trish. Even if V is more approachable, it’s been too long. And last time we crossed paths, we couldn’t even talk because I—” he interrupted himself and leaned the back of his head against the rock, pouring all his efforts to try that bitterness wasn’t too evident in his tone. “It didn’t end well.”

Trish settled a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“I know, Dante. I know it’s not easy, and I also know that you’d prefer to confront Urizen repeatedly even if he is twice your size and thrice as powerful rather than having that conversation.”

“Hey now, have some faith in me. This last battle has been way more balanced, so next time maybe I manage to make him eat dirt first—”

“But V is dying.” Trish’s unfiltered words made him shut up. “He is running out of time, and at this rate your chance to tell Vergil what you could never tell him when he was complete will disappear too. You don’t know when you’ll have another opportunity to do so, and if killing Urizen is the only way to prevent the world from ending, this time you won’t just spend two decades beating yourself about not talking to him. You will regret it for the rest of your life.”

Dante gulped thickly before his gaze was dragged to the ground.

“Again, I don’t like that logic.”

Trish smiled apologetically while pressing his shoulder.

“And again, it’s sound.”

He exhaled a laugh, getting lost in his thoughts.

Truth was that there were several things that he would like to say to Vergil. Some belonged to the time before their paths completely diverged, but others had developed afterwards. _Much_ afterwards. However, no matter how big the need of letting them finally out might be, the fear of Vergil’s reaction when hearing some of them was even bigger. So yeah, the perspective of battling a horde of demons right then and there was way more appealing than opening himself to his older brother.

But Trish was right, as usual. He already knew too well the frustration of keeping so many unsaid things inside, so if at the end Vergil (or V, or whichever of his parts) decided to stab him again for talking too much, at least he would experience a different kind of regret.

“Okay then, I’ve wasted enough time here.” Dante separated from the wall with renewed vigor and stretched his arms over his head. “Damn, now because of you I have to run after those two when I was winning the race.”

Trish chuckled while also separating from the wall.

“I’m sure you won’t have any trouble catching them.” She raised her hand when he was starting to open his mouth. “And yes, Dante, I know, you have an impressive energy, but make sure not to waste it through your mouth.”

Dante laughed at the monotone tone that Trish used at the end.

“Shit, I guess it’s time to renew my jokes repertory.” His tone and eyes were more serious when continuing talking. “Thanks, Trish.”

The woman smiled at him with fondness.

“You’re welcome. I really hope my advice doesn’t get you stabbed.”

Dante exhaled a long resigned sigh.

“Yeah, I hope that too. Although I’m beginning to like the feeling.”

He winked at Trish when this one shook her head and muttered a teasing ‘masochist’ before turning around. He waited for Trish to reach the top of the cliff. Once she was looking at him from above, he waved his hand goodbye and turned around, determined to catch up to those youngsters.

With a little of luck, by when he confronted V, he would have managed to put in order his thoughts to speak his mind in a clear manner, although part of him suspected that he would have to trust his amazing capacity of improvisation once again, while hoping not to be killed for saying something that he should have kept for himself.

* * *

V finished off the last nobody of the current floor seconds before Nero sliced open the last of the riots. The demon’s body was still disappearing in the air around the cane stuck on the ground when V felt his knees trembling slightly.

He gritted his teeth, throwing a discreet look towards Nero in order to take a long difficult breath when the kid wasn’t looking in his direction. During the continuous fights that they had been facing after abandoning the safe area, V could forget about his critical condition. However, with the adrenaline of the combat vanished, exhaustion came back at full force, forcing him to search the support of walls and improvised seats in order to recover before being able to proceed.

“I think there are at least couple more floors down there.” V looked towards Nero, who was crouching rather close to the edge of the central hole of the room. “And shit, I’m seeing one of those infinite portals.”

V nodded, trying to hide how much he needed the cane to keep his posture completely straight.

“In that case I’ll command Shadow the moment we stepped down to save us trouble.”

He approached the hole with the intention of jumping down but Nero stepped in front of him.

“Listen, why don’t you stay here and let me handle this?”

V half-closed his eyes.

“That’s your way of telling me I’m a hindrance?”

Nero shook his head, not looking too bothered by his light threatening tone, as if he was already used to it.

“No, that’s my way of asking you to rest. We don’t know how much it remains until meeting that bastard, and you need to be ready to invoke that golem when that moment comes. So, wait for me, ‘kay? It won’t take long.”

The sudden kiss Nero gave him before rapidly jumping down took V by surprise, making him unable to come up with a protest. He clicked his tongue, annoyed that that gesture had been enough to distract him. However, since he himself had used that technique to prevent Nero from keeping asking before, he guessed he deserved to be paid with the same coin.

Even though Nero had decided to sweep the next area alone, he invoked Griffon so that he joined the kid as support. He took a seat in one of extremes of the circular room, in order to be able to lean his back against the wall. He allowed himself to close his eyes for a moment, the calm of the place barely affected by Nero and Griffon’s battle cries, that sounded too distant in the lower level.

V didn’t realize he had dozed off for some minutes until a sudden presence in the room made him open his eyes brusquely. He reached for his cane lying next to him in order to point at the place where he had detected the newcomer, with the intention of invoking Shadow towards it. He didn’t complete the action, his eyes opening in recognition when seeing Dante standing there with his hands raised in a conciliatory gesture.

“Wow, it seems I’m not the only one suffering from rude awakenings.”

V clicked his tongue with impatience. He lowered his cane and used it to stand up because there was nothing that he hated more than looking at someone from below. He had already had his good dose of that thanks to Mundus, and he didn’t plan to go through it ever again.

“I thought you wanted to be on your own, Dante. Have you perhaps got lost?”

Dante snorted at his sarcastic remark, lowering his hands in order to approach him.

“Come on, I may be a little old but I’m not senile.” V followed the devil hunter with his eyes until this one leaned against the wall next to him, with his arms and legs crossed and leaving a meter of separation between them. “Nah, truth is that there’s something I wanted to ask you.”

V frowned, not understanding why Dante looked so calmed around him when during their past encounters he had always been on edge.

“What is it?”

Dante kept staring in front of him for a moment before turning his head to offer him a light mocking smile.

“That new skin of young, sexy gothic you have now, did you choose it or did you get it by accident?”

V didn’t know if Nero and Griffon had just happened to stay still or if he couldn’t hear them as a result of the words Dante had pronounced, which had left him frozen.

“I beg your pardon?”

With his arms still crossed Dante changed posture, leaning his shoulder on the wall to be facing him.

“Trish told me everything. I know who you are, V.”

The invoker clenched his jaw and averted his eyes from Dante’s inquisitive expression, the grip in his cane tightening. It had been a mistake on his part not foreseeing that that woman could tell Dante about his secret. How foolish of him.

“I see,” he kept his tone composed even if his whole body was stiff. “In that case, perhaps you should know that eradicating me will suppose no advantage in the upcoming confrontation against Urizen. In fact, bringing me safely to him could indeed be our best chance to end all this.”

V was surprised when, instead of feeling any danger coming from Dante, the man simply huffed.

“No hard feelings, V, but as much as you wanna take revenge on Mr. Garbage King for leaving you out the fun, first come, first served. If you wanna bring him down, you’ll have to arrive there before me.”

V’s brows furrowed while his gaze returned to Dante. He didn’t find necessary to correct the man’s wrong assumption. It was more beneficial for him that Dante kept thinking that his intention was to kill Urizen, instead of merging back to him.

“So, you don’t have the intention of eliminating me?”

Dante shook his head no, the action moving the too long, unruly bangs that were framing his face.

“I don’t see why I should. It has zero sense killing someone that, for now, is with us.”

V raised an eyebrow.

“For now? I detect certain mistrust in your words, Dante.”

Dante barked a short laugh.

“Nice intuition, Mr. Poetry. Of course I don’t trust you, especially after knowing whom you come from.” Dante uncrossed his arms to hook his thumbs on his pockets, his expression acquiring a more serious tinge. “However, until you give me a solid reason to fight you, there’s something I wanted to tell you.”

V clicked his tongue and averted his eyes, now leaning both of his hands on the cane.

“If it has something to do with my current form, you should know I didn’t have anything to do with it, or I can guarantee you that I wouldn’t have chosen such a fragile vessel.”

“I’m sorry, V.”

V’s eyes were dragged back to Dante, more opened than before after hearing that unexpected but sincere apology coming from the person he would have less expected to receive it.

“I’m sorry for not having jumped after you that day, and for not joining you to fight Mundus. Maybe if we had worked together, another Jackpot would have been enough to kick his ass.”

V gulped when hearing the guilt present in his brother’s words. With a handful of exceptions, such as their extremely brief collaboration against Arkham, he had never seen Dante in a context that didn’t involve him boasting about his overrated skills or fighting him to death. He didn’t know how to react to it, and therefore he picked the familiar option of answering with a cutting tone, as every time that people behaved in an unpredictable way.

“No offense, Dante, but Mundus was probably even more almighty than Urizen is now. I hardly doubt that your presence there would have marked the difference.”

Dante’s usual reaction towards such a direct insult to his abilities should have been to protest, but the devil hunter chuckled humorlessly while accepting the criticism.

“Yeah, probably not.” That apologetic tinge was still present in Dante’s next words, “but I shouldn’t have waited so much to confront him on my own. I should’ve been there for you, if not during that first time, at least during the second, but I couldn’t even get to do that right.” Dante took a deep breath while looking at a distant point behind V, as if he was getting lost in his memories. “It’s funny, you know? We’ve fought to death a bunch of times, and no matter how hard I tried, I never managed to kill you. And the only damn time I managed to do it, it was when I should have reached for you instead.”

V slowly let out the breath he had been holding when Dante’s eyes stopped in him after finishing talking. He didn’t know how to respond to what Dante had said. In fact, he wasn’t even sure to believe the man’s words. Perhaps Dante was aware of Vergil’s resentment when the first didn’t manage to recognize him in his Nelo Angelo form. What if Dante had just apologized to placate Vergil’s anger? The idea was too twisted to suit Dante, but the possibility of the devil hunter trying to manipulate V to lower his guard was still there.

At that point, there was only one way to verify it.

“Your left hand.” Dante looked at him with comprehensible confusion when he voiced his thoughts aloud. “Show it to me.”

Dante blinked and raised his left gloved hand with hesitation to turn it around.

“Without the glove,” V clarified with an almost exasperated tone, causing Dante to look even more confused before realization bathed his expression.

“Oh, so _that_ ’s the advice Trish gave you—?”

V lost the battle against his remaining patience. He released the cane to approach Dante, ignoring the way this one tensed for the sudden proximity. Before Dante could make any other stupid remark, he forcibly grabbed the man’s left hand to remove the fingerless glove, turning it around after it so that the man’s palm was facing upwards.

The invoker’s heart skipped a beat when verifying that Trish hadn’t lied. There it was the scar Yamato caused 25 years ago, even if such an injury shouldn’t have lasted under normal circumstances. In an act reflex, he rubbed the mark sliding his right thumb over it soothingly. The gentle action caused Dante to let out a hitched breath that made V’s raise his face to be at Dante’s level.

“It hasn’t healed.”

The not very clever truism escaped his lips before he could do something to hold it back. His muttered words extracted a sheepish smile from Dante.

“No, it hasn’t.” Another truism that V failed to notice, since at that moment Dante grabbed his left wrist with his free hand, until his palm was resting on the left side of Dante's chest. “And this neither.”

V didn’t have to assimilate those last words, since at that moment a thumping sound was heard behind him, followed by a shocked ‘ _What the fuck?_ ’ that he immediately recognized.

He turned around, having time to watch the transition between astonishment and anger that passed through Nero’s expression before this one crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“Well, it seems I’m interrupting something, huh?”

V didn’t realize where his hands were until seeing the way Nero’s eyes dug on them. He released Dante, who cleared his throat in an awkward manner while recovering his left glove.

“Nah, we were just chatting.” Dante put his glove on again and scratched the back of his head before pointing at the hole. “So, how are things down there? Too many enemies?”

The carefree comment seemed to annoy Nero more, since the boy replied with a sarcastic tone that could rival the one V used on a common basis.

“Nah, nothing that I couldn’t handle while you were here flirting with other people’s boyfriends.”

V closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. At any other moment, he wouldn’t have minded manipulating the jealousy Nero was undoubtedly experiencing on his behalf, but he wasn’t in the mood to deal with such an immature attitude.

He was about to remind those two fools about their task at hand when Dante talked.

“Wait.” Dante’s dumbfounded tone made his attention focus on the man again, in time to see him signaling both him and Nero alternatively. “Are you saying you’re together?”

“Yeah, we are,” Nero snapped, causing Dante’s expression to be even more shocked.

“But together _together_?” Dante repeated, his tone clearly indicating he hoped the answer was negative, which provoked Nero to reach back in order to recover his sword.

“What, you got a fucking problem with that?”

Dante opened and closed his mouth a couple of times like a fish out of water before exhaling a laugh that came out quite nervous. _Almost_ hysterical.

“Holy shit...” Dante interlaced his hands behind his hair and closed his eyes. “Holy shit, this cannot be, things are already messy enough as they are.”

V frowned while Dante kept muttering things to himself, like a man who had suddenly gone crazy. By then Nero looked as if he was about to attack the older devil hunter at any moment. V was about to demand Dante an explanation to prevent a battle between the devil hunters that definitely they couldn’t afford when, suddenly, Dante opened his eyes again, as if he had made his mind about an internal debate only him knew about.

“Well, sorry lads, but this was supposed to be a race, and this guy is gonna make sure he wins.”

The sudden change of topic was so brusque and unexpected that neither V nor Nero could do anything to stop Dante from jumping down the hole after saying a hurried ‘ _Adios_ ’. Saying that Dante’s attitude was suspicious was an understatement, but V didn’t find himself with the energy of investing time thinking about his brother’s behavior.

“If the area ahead is clear, I suggest keeping going before more demons appear.”

He believed his suggestion was quite reasonable, so he didn’t understand why Nero didn’t move from his spot, remaining in front of him with his arms crossed and an irritated expression in his face.

“So, you got angry because I didn’t tell Nico about us, but you didn’t tell Dante.”

V frowned when Nero brought up that irrelevant topic.

“No, I didn’t,” he talked slowly, as if he was interacting with someone with a short intellect, which didn’t help to lower the increasing tension between them. “Nico is your best friend, Dante is a mere acquaintance. I think there is a clear difference.”

“Yeah, right, an acquaintance that talks to you in private as if you were best buddies and holds your fucking hand as if you were way more than that.”

V gritted his teeth, not feeling like thinking too deeply about the conversation he had shared with Dante, and much less to openly discuss it with Nero.

“Nero, you’re being ridiculous right now.”

“Maybe, but if it means nothing, I guess you won’t have any problem in telling me what you were talking about.”

“Certainly, I could, but I won’t.”

“Why?”

“Because you’ve been behaving like an infant for a while now, and I honestly don’t feel like trusting you with this.”

Nero looked at him with stupor, a deflated snort escaping him.

“I knew it.” Nero pointed at him with an accusing finger. “You trust Dante more than me, right?”

“At this moment, yes, I do,” V coldly said, increasing the disappointment that Nero’s eyes showed. “It’s clear that Dante’s capacity of assessing the situation exceeds yours, which explains why he doesn’t waste time over worrying about unnecessary topics when there is a more pressing matter to attend.”

“Well, maybe if you didn’t look like a walking corpse that is about to break at any moment I wouldn’t worry.”

Nero’s words felt like a punch in the gut, something that must have showed in his face because guilt appeared in Nero’s face.

Probably, two seconds would have been enough so that the demon hunter apologized, putting an end to a conversation that was already getting out of hand. However, his current situation caused that V’s automatic reaction was to hiss the next words without giving Nero time to regret what he had said.

“And perhaps if you hadn’t lost for second time against Urizen, you wouldn’t have the imperious necessity of proving so adamantly that you aren’t the dead weight everyone believes you are.”

V talked with the intention of causing the greater possible damage, and he achieved his goal.

The tension that surrounded Nero’s complete body, the way his arms dropped on either side of his body before his hands clenched into fists, and especially the hurt that tinged his blue eyes made V realize he had gone too far.

He could have tried to take his words back during the nerve-wrecking silence that fell between them at that moment, but he stubbornly let it be dragged until Nero broke it with a snort.

“Fine. If that’s how things are, this dead weight will go his fucking way not to bother you or your ‘acquaintance’ anymore.”

After snapping that with brusqueness, V had expected the devil hunter bumped his shoulder against his when passing him by. However, Nero didn’t even graze him before jumping down the hole, probably because he still cared and was afraid of hurting him.

V was so busy pretending not to feel affected neither guilty for what had just happened that he was unable to prevent his familiars from showing at that moment.

“Okay, V, who do we need to kill?!” Griffon shut up after looking around and realizing that V was alone. “Uhm, okay, this is weird. For a moment we felt a super nasty will of destroying everything around you.”

The invoker let out a humorless laugh.

“You read that right indeed.” Griffon was about to open his beak to ask further, so V raised a hand. “Not now, Griffon. Please.”

The almost begging component that slipped in his tone caused Griffon and Shadow to stare at him wide-eyed.

“Shit. Something really bad must have happened. Are any of those two idiots involved?”

V didn’t want to relive any of the conversations he had shared with Nero and Dante, but he decided that answering with a quick nod wouldn’t hurt.

“Figured it out.” Griffon sighed. “So, must I take we’re on our own for now?”

“Yes, just like the old good times,” V tried to sound ironic, but his tone sounded so bitter that he regretted talking in the first place. “So would you mind taking me further down?”

“Yeah, but please, do me a favor.” V frowned with confusion. "Stop asking so nicely. It’s not like you and it gives me the creeps.”

A faint laugh escaped V while Shadow came back to him. Griffon grabbed his wrist then and transported him deeper inside the tree. He had barely landed when Dante and Nero also appeared through alternative paths.

Their recent fight caused that Nero didn’t even spare a glance towards him.

They continued walking forward as if they were strangers, instants before the ground disappeared under their feet and they were separated once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It had been a while since Nero and V had a fight ^^U


	14. Mission 14

**_June 15 - 1:13 p.m._ **

V had only just begun to fall into the void when Griffon manifested to catch him with his usual diligence. This time however he was surprised when the bird began panting almost immediately, struggling to keep him in the air.

“I can’t carry you anymore! I gotta put you down!” Griffon still managed to let him close enough to the ground so that the fall wasn’t too painful, “I gotta put you down…”

His familiar’s words were barely a whisper. It seemed that Dante’s chase, the need of putting Nero safe and the subsequent fights had been too much for Griffon to stand, since the bird devoted his last ounce of energy to come back to him when V was still trying to raise to his feet.

“Damn, just a little longer. Come on…” He didn’t even manage to give a full step before falling forward, his legs unable to sustain him anymore on their own. “I must...go…Before he loses completely.”

Staying awake was beginning to be as difficult as walking without tripping, but within the numbness that was beginning to invade him, V realized he wasn’t sure whom he was referring to with that last sentence.

Without any doubt, Urizen being defeated without him landing the final blow should be the worst-case scenario. It would imply the end of his life, while sentencing Vergil to an existence based on the obtention of unlimited power, something that the older son of Sparda had always convinced himself to want above everything else.

However, Dante or Nero losing the fight, and presumably dying in the process, was something that he also wished to avoid at any cost. Either of those outcomes would mean losing everything he had become. It would imply sacrificing both his past self, whose main purpose to keep going when nothing else remained had been to defeat Dante, and his new one, who had chosen to believe in that future that Nero had promised him after everything finished.

Although given his current condition, with those more and more frequent cracks appearing in his skin, perhaps he was being over optimistic, and at that rate the only thing he could aim for was having a dignified death.

V proceeded forward, trying to ignore those dark thoughts sneaking uninvited in his mind, and also not to think much about the fact that his last fight with Nero could have been the last straw for the kid, who may have got tired of waiting for explanations that he had been too coward to give.

At that moment Shadow’s trail brought him next to an edge that was small enough so that he could jump it without help. However, he couldn’t even overcome that obstacle without tripping over, which caused him to groan in more annoyance than pain.

“Are you all right, V!?” Despite his weakened state, Griffon appeared again after detecting his frustration. “You might want to take a break…”

V clenched his jaw and continued walking. As reasonable as Griffon’s suggestion could seem, V knew deep inside it was useless. At that point, there was no amount of rest that could help him recover. Every bit of strength he poured in keeping going was condemned to be gone forever. He felt it. From then on, he had to carefully choose the efforts he made because a misuse of his energy could be fatal, so avoiding any unnecessary talking could be the first step to follow.

That was the reason why he remained silent while entering that strange circular area, where several stones had been placed as if it was a cemetery. He was about to reach the center of the room when those stones began to glow at the same time, emitting a purple light that illuminated the room. His head began to hurt then. He fell to his knees, initially thinking that his body had decided not to obey him again, but then he noticed the purple mist that was slowly invading the room.

This time, he was too slow to detect that familiar sense of danger that he had developed during the past month and half, and which came so in handy to detect the enemies he could not win and that therefore he should avoid. The only thing he could do was to shout in pain when his demonic power was taken away from him. Having a familiar involuntarily extracted from him felt like having an invisible body part ripped off, and he experienced that feeling multiplied by three. The throbbing ache that spread through him was so intense that the cane escaped through his fingers while falling flat on his stomach.

The last blurry image that danced in front of his eyes before losing consciousness was Malphas’ figure chuckling in a cruel, triumphant tone.

* * *

The place where he woke up wasn’t the same than the one where he had fainted. The stones that had been covering the area were now floating in the air, suspended by an invisible force. Also, there were three monuments carved on stone waiting for him ahead, each one representing some sort of demon of considerable size.

V was about to stand up, resigning himself to spend an embarrassing amount of time until being able to do so, when he frowned, feeling suddenly weird. It took him a moment to recognize the unfamiliar sensation that invaded him: he felt good. He wasn’t tired to the point of exhaustion anymore. In fact, it had been quite some time since the last time he felt so refreshed and full of energy.

He examined his body in stupor, noticing then that the fissures in his skin had completely disappeared, together with his tattoos. That last discovery made him remember that Malphas had stolen his familiars from him. He couldn’t waste time marveling at his recovered strength, so he reached for his cane out of habit to stand up, even if he could have done it without that extra help.

While examining his surroundings, V noticed a suspicious door in one of the sides of the room that was locked tight. He wasn’t surprised to discover that the road he had followed to arrive there had disappeared. He was trapped, which only left him with the possibility of going through those three nasty looking portals placed under those demons’ statues.

V had the feeling that he would need to face each one of those enemies represented in the stone if he wanted to leave that dimension Malphas had created. He exhaled a resigned sigh and went through the portal situated under the one who looked quite like the demon he had watched Nero face some hours ago.

He was still wondering how he could win a battle with zero weapons at his disposal when he saw his three familiars in dormant mode waiting for him at the other side.

“So this is where they are... I'm claiming what's mine.”

The invoker approached carefully, with his eyes never leaving the smaller but still considerable statue of the demon situated in the dark room behind the magic spheres. However, the statue wasn’t brought to life until V woke Shadow up by placing his hand over him, which caused that the other spheres vanished as the room illuminated.

The battle started almost instantly, so V didn’t have time to be concerned about the possibility of having sacrificed Griffon and Nightmare when choosing Shadow, even if he had picked the panther because it had been the closest sphere to him when he entered. That was a matter he could be concerned about later. For the time being, he couldn’t pay attention to anything that wasn’t the battle itself. A battle that, against all odds, he found himself enjoying like the old times.

During that confrontation, and during the next two that followed to recover his remaining two familiars, V almost forgot about the reality waiting for him outside. The only thing that mattered was the satisfaction of facing an enemy while being able to give his all, without being forced to play safe; without having to worry about reserving his demonic energy; without being afraid of ending too exhausted afterwards to the point that moving became a torment.

Once again, he remembered what it was to be truly alive, and when the door in the main room glowed and emitted the sound of being unlocked, announcing that they could come back to the real world, relief was the last thing V experienced.

“He he he, take that, bitch!” Griffon cawed in triumph while V remained in the center of the room, looking at the door as if it was a worse enemy than the ones he had faced until then. “Too bad you have to kidnap people to have some company, but we’re getting out this nasty place!”

V didn’t move, neither said anything when Griffon began to fly towards the exit. However, his reluctance to go was so evident that the bird stopped in his tracks and turned around with a confused expression.

“V?” Griffon came back to his side. “Uhm, the exit is right there.”

The invoker remained silent with his eyes still fixed on the door.

“We could stay here.”

The squawk that Griffon exhaled indicated that his familiar was even more surprised than him when those words escaped his lips.

“Okay, if this is a joke, I must say your sense of humor is even worse than your brother’s.”

“I’m not joking.” His cutting answer provoked the bird’s beak to open wide. “We are stronger here than we could ever be outside.” V extracted his poetry book from inside his pocket. The action felt a little alien to him, as if he wasn’t entirely responsible for it, but he let it be without making any effort to fight against it. “In fact, I doubt I ever need this book to potentiate my powers anymore.”

He dropped the book and raised his cane over it with the intention of piercing it, but Griffon rapidly avoided it by recovering the volume in his claws. The bird flied away from V, looking at the invoker with stupor while continuing flapping his wings.

“Damnit, this is no good.” V frowned, not understanding Griffon’s concerned tone. “Come on, don’t you see what that bitch is doing to you?”

V blinked, resting his cane on the ground again.

“Yes, I see that Malphas has underestimated us by sending us here, since we could defeat those recreations without any trouble.”

Griffon sighed and shook his head. The serious tone the bird used made V know he wasn’t going to like what his familiar was going to say next.

“No, V, it’s the other way around. _We_ have underestimated her. It’s evident she has arranged all this so that you want to be here.”

Griffon’s comment stirred something inside V, but he stubbornly ignored that little voice that was desperately agreeing with his familiar’s claim.

“Well, I _do_ wish to be here.” His tone acquired an unwanted tinge of defensiveness that made him spell the next words with more harshness than intended. “For the first time since I was condemned to be in this flesh, I don’t have to worry about my body being too weak to stand a battle. I don’t have to be afraid of using all my power. I don’t even need _this_ to be able to move around.”

He accompanied the last words by also dropping his cane. The frustration of the gesture caused that the stick resonated loudly in the room when falling, breaking the momentary silence that had fallen over.

“I know what you mean, V.” The fact that Griffon’s voice sounded unexpectedly patient and almost soft only made the invoker feel even more annoyed, “you’re right: in this dimension there’s no enemy we cannot defeat, but we cannot stay.”

“Because it’s not real?”

“Then you know it!”

V exhaled a short, humorless chuckle. He wasn’t that weak not to notice that Malphas’ dimension had been built with the intention of tempting its visitors to stay, surely stealing their life away from them in the real world. However, for once, he wouldn’t have minded being fully dragged to that mirage instead of finally confronting what was waiting ahead.

“Of course I know, but I don’t care,” V continued talking with a bitterness he couldn’t possible hold back. “You’ve seen me out there, what I’ve become. I cannot give a firm step without stumbling. I cannot even fight those lesser demons without risking myself to be hurt. I cannot do _anything_ on my own.”

“Look, V, I know it’s frustrating, but what do you suggest then? To stay here while doing nothing as you’re slowly consumed?”

“I honestly don’t see the difference from what I’ve been doing lately.”

“And what about all those leads we investigated during the journey, all that we’ve been through to find a way to defeat Urizen? You also want to throw all that effort away?”

“All that effort has already been for nothing. We’ve used all in our hands to stop Urizen, and he’s still standing.”

“And you are too.”

“No, I’m not.”

“ _Yes_ , you are. So even if it sucks, and even if you must crawl to where Urizen is, what you can’t do is to give up when we’re so close and—”

V interrupted Griffon by snapping his fingers hard in order to invoke his remaining familiars. Shadow and Nightmare interchanged a confused glance with Griffon before focusing on the invoker, whose breathing was more labored though not out of exhaustion, but of anger.

“V, what are you—”

“Get out.”

Silence reigned in the room after he hissed that command.

“What?” Griffon asked in a dumbfounded tone while Shadow and Nightmare looked frozen, as if they didn’t know what to do.

“What?” V repeated with sarcasm. He tried to keep his usual composed tone, but he almost snarled the next words while raising his tone without noticing. “That’s what you wanted, right? It’s evident all of you could do it just fine without me. I mean, look at you, Griffon: you have managed to catch up to Dante way faster than I ever could, and even save Nero while I was only struggling to keep the rhythm.”

“V…”

“For sure Shadow won’t have the least trouble in beating all the demons ahead, as he always does without me having to tell him a single command. And for once, Nightmare will be able to do something rather than waiting for me to have a minimum energy to be able to invoke him.”

“V, listen...”

“So, go ahead. Leave this place. Don’t let me drag all of you behind. I know that the only reason why you haven’t left me already is for the contract we signed, but all things considered and knowing how everything is going to end for me, I’m sure that all of you will be glad to free yourselves from the yoke of such a pathetic, weak master.”

“V, we are _not_ leaving.”

“Why not?”

“Because we’re a team, dumbass! So if you _really_ wanna get rid of us, at least make it look real instead of doing it when you’re about to cry, dammit!”

V’s eyes opened wide when hearing Griffon’s exasperated but somehow fond comment. He opened his mouth to deny such accusation, only to find that a lump had indeed formed in his throat. He stubbornly clenched his jaw, trying to deny Griffon’s words, but at that moment all the strength he thought he had, and that from the start he had known it was a mere illusion, decided to abandon him, making him fall on his knees and hands.

The invoker still fought against the inevitable, but the moment he witnessed the first tear fall from his eyes to the stony surface under him, V realized he couldn’t possibly hold back anymore. He slid to the ground until being lying facing up. He covered his closed eyes with his left hand as tears began to stream down his cheeks. His right remained clasped in a fist on his stomach, which was also clenched with the useless effort of keeping his stuttered breaths under control.

He didn’t realize his familiars had approached him until he felt Shadow’s head suddenly resting on his stomach. He knew when Nightmare got closer, since the ground shook as a result, and the sudden air breeze that reached him also betrayed Griffon’s presence just next to him.

“Jeez, cat, be careful. Maybe your heavy head breaks our ‘pathetic, weak master’.”

The ghost of a smile found its way through V’s pursed lips when hearing Griffon’s ironic comment. He didn’t remove his hand from his eyes, but he placed his gloved hand on Shadow’s head when this one tried to move. He found the extra weight strangely comforting, a reminder that he was still in that world and that he hadn’t vanished yet, even if such a thing could be immediate.

He should have known that it was just a matter of time that everything came crashing down on him. He had been holding back for a long time now after all. Probably for much longer than before acquiring that form, and now that the end seemed so near, with his life literally slipping through his body with every breath he took, he couldn’t possible contain all those suppressed fears anymore.

“I lied before,” he muttered, obtaining a soft snort coming from Griffon.

“No offense, but you lie as easily as breathing. So could you be more precise?”

V gulped with difficulty, taking some moments to make sure that his voice wasn’t going to tremble too much while talking.

“This morning, when I said it would be relieving not having you as my familiars anymore, I lied.” He bit his lower lip for a moment to get a hold on himself before continuing in a whispered tone. “I don’t want you three to leave. I don’t want to be alone again. But however this mission ends, I cannot picture a different outcome. Be it because I die before reaching Urizen or because I throw everything away after being complete again, the result won’t change. I’ll be on my own again, without nothing worthy living for. So what’s the point in leaving this isolated place when a lonely existence is the only fate waiting for me ahead?”

The new silence that V had expected to fall didn’t last much, since Griffon whistled in shock.

“Damn it, V, you _really_ know how to depress the audience, huh?”

Against his will, a trembling chuckle escaped V when hearing Griffon’s shocked words, which were followed by an ‘Ouch’ surely caused by Shadow hitting the bird with a tentacle. At that moment the bird exhaled a defeated sigh before talking with a confident tone.

“Anyway, what’s the point of leaving this nasty dimension you say? Well, one step at a time! For starters, you can remove that theory of dying from your head already because we’re gonna bring you to Urizen even if it’s the last thing we do.”

V removed the hand from his eyes to offer Griffon a skeptic glance.

“Must I remind you that you aren’t precisely at your best either and that you could barely carry me before?”

“Hey, I never said I’d be the one carrying you.” Griffon flied to land on Nightmare sitting next to him. “I remind you that the big guy can carry you without effort. And if he goes too slow, I’m sure Shadow wouldn’t mind making an extra effort and transport Nightmare on his trail, right cat?!”

A smile escaped V when Nightmare grunted in agreement in a cavernous voice while Shadow showed a horrified expression because of his future prospects. However, even if his familiars’ unwavering confidence was more contagious than he thought, there was something else preventing him from facing reality.

“But even if we make it, what about afterwards? What if I don’t allow myself to keep everything I’ve finally obtained?”

Griffon tilted his head to the side.

“You mean Nero?”

For once V didn’t feel bothered for his familiar’s lilting, knowing tone. He guessed he deserved to be a little mocked for not being able to express his feelings with more honesty.

“Yes.” He remembered then his conversation with Dante, and the discovery that his presence in his brother’s thoughts was way more meaningful than he had expected. “Among other things.”

Griffon sighed with patience.

“That’s also easy. You just have to do what we’ve been telling you to do for a while now.”

V averted his eyes to stare at the endless ceiling.

“I seriously doubt to have enough time to do so.”

“Then you’ll have to make the kid a good summary adapted to dummies, so that he can understand it.”

V half-closed his eyes at Griffon.

“You always have an answer for everything, haven’t you?”

Griffon snorted loudly.

“Well, having a master than spends more time bringing up problems than breathing has helped me develop such a talent.”

A soft laugh escaped V at that. He took a deep breath then, allowing himself some seconds to review the situation. A minute was enough to reach the conclusion that he had more to lose in case of remaining there, so he straightened his position, obtaining a unanimous cacophony of approving sounds coming from his familiars.

“Oh, and just for the record, you better not joke about liberating us again because maybe the next time we take the offer at face value.”

The exaggerated warning tone that Griffon used put a smirk in V’s face.

“Worry not, Griffon.” He made a brief pause to recover his cane and book before continuing. “I’m afraid that all of you have wasted your chance to be free, since I don’t plan to make that mistake again.”

The pronounced words didn’t quite match the gratitude that slipped in his tone, which provoked Griffon to clear his throat with certain awkwardness. Shadow and Nightmare growled happily before returning to V, not having the less reservations in showing they were glad for remaining by the invoker's side.

“Damn, what a pity.” Griffon’s protest sounded clearly half-hearted, evidencing that the familiar was as glad as his companions. “Let’s get the hell outta here! This humidity is killing me!”

V nodded and walked towards the door, that had started opening when he was close enough to it.

“Agreed. It’s time we got back on course.”

While approaching the exit, V knew that being back to reality would be hard, and that he would miss feeling comfortable with his own body as he had felt in that dimension. However, even if up till then the mere idea of telling Nero about his origin was enough to put him in a sour mood, now _that_ was precisely what encouraged him to keep going.

If there was an aspect in which the devil hunter could surpass him was stubbornness. And if there was someone who could convince his complete self that being together was worth it, it was Nero. Because he had done it once and for sure he would be able to do it again, without mattering how much more challenging this second time could be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter turned to be a little longer than expected, but since this is probably the last time I get to write V interacting with his familiars I don't regret it :')


	15. Mission 15

**_June 15 - 1:13 p.m._ **

During the fall, Nero was forced to use the wire snatch ability of his devil breaker several times. Overusing that functionality provoked that his prosthetic arm ended on the brink of breaking.

“Dammit, running a little low…” He muttered to himself once he reached the lower level safe and sound, examining the suspicious sparks his devil breaker was emitting. “Not gonna last much longer without a refill.”

His heart stopped for a moment when mere seconds later Nico’s van landed in front of him, as if the craftswoman had telepathically known he needed her help.

“Hey, honey. Need assistance?”

“What the hell’s your problem? You TRYIN’ to kill me!?”

It seemed that Nico knew that she wasn’t the real source of his irritation because she answered as usual, not looking bothered at all by his brusque tone.

“If you wanna bitch, blame it on Lady. SHE’s behind the wheel.”

The female devil hunter sneaked his head through the window at that moment to playfully wave his hand at him, a charming smile adorning her face. Nero sighed and shook his head, feeling a little guilty for having snapped like that when those two had come there for him.

“Okay, enough with the suspense,” Nico said while clapping her hands together with impatience. “What do you need?”

He signaled his right hand with his head while moving his prosthetic fingers, indicating Nico what he wanted without the need of words. He followed the woman inside the van with the intention of accompanying her to her workplace, but he stopped halfway when seeing Trish sitting on the sofa with her legs crossed, skimming over the same magazine Lady had been reading before. With the last events surrounding Dante, V and him, he had forgotten the woman was there.

His stare must have been even less subtle than he thought because the woman stopped reading to look at him with curiosity. She closed the magazine and rested it on her thighs, keeping a hand between the pages not to miss the one she had been reading a moment ago.

“So, you three have split up.”

Nero huffed and disentangled his malfunctioning breaker from his arm, resuming his way to where Nico was.

“Yeah, but it’s no big deal. I work better alone anyway.”

He hoped to finish the conversation with that reply, but at that moment Trish sighed and he tensed. Somehow, he felt that the topic wasn’t going to be dropped yet, but the words that the woman said next still managed to take him by surprise, in the bad way.

“Look, Nero, I know we haven’t had time to talk much. But for what I’ve seen, I think that perhaps you should listen to Dante and stand aside. I’m sure that he can handle everything on his own, so why don’t you stay here with us and wait in case he needs support—?”

Both her and Lady jumped in their respective seats when Nero threw the removed breaker against the floor with frustration before returning to the van’s middle area to confront Trish. The only one who didn’t look very surprised by his violent reaction was Nico, who didn’t remove her eyes from the breaker she was in the process of fixing.

“Dante, Dante, Dante. That’s all I’m hearing lately and I’m sick of it.” Nero pointed an accusing finger at Trish while this one looked at him wide-eyed from the sofa. It was obvious the woman hadn’t expected such an outburst coming from him. “It wasn’t Dante the one who helped V gather all that intel about that Urizen, but me. Together we discovered what that fucking tree was, and how to break through those damn roots, and we were the ones who defeated most part of them. And if it wasn’t for _me_ , V wouldn’t have managed to reach Dante, the fucking hero of the day. And yeah, I know that I didn’t manage to do much against Urizen, and that that bastard beat the crap out of me twice. I fucking know that, and damn, it _pisses me off_. But still, I’ve done for this mission much more than you all are giving me credit for. So I don’t care how damn weak you think I am, I’M NOT gonna stay behind while playing the role of sidekick for the old man, understood?”

He was practically shouting by when he finished talking, which thickened the awkward silence that fell after he shut up. Shit, he hadn’t planned to say all that, but Trish joining the club of ‘let’s-leave-Nero-aside’ had been the last straw. It had made him remember how V had admitted that he trusted Dante more than him, and fuck, that had kind of hurt.

Hell, who was he kidding, it had hurt a lot. He would put his life in V’s hands with no hesitation if it had to come to that, and knowing that V wasn’t able to do the same had been a real blow. Not to mention that he wasn’t blind. He had never considered himself the jealous type. At least, he had never felt that way around Kyrie. But when Dante had kept V’s hand against his chest, as if the man was fucking confessing, he had felt his blood boil. He had felt the intimacy that transpired between Dante and V just before he appeared. He _knew_ he had interrupted something, and the fact that V had refused to talk about it had only increased his suspicion about the nature of V and Dante’s past relationship.

“Nero,” he was so busy getting _even_ more annoyed with those memories that he didn’t notice that Trish was now standing in front of him until feeling one of her hands settling on his shoulder, “none of us has ever thought you were weak, and I’m including Dante.”

“Yeah, dude, what the hell’s gotten into you?” Nico blew some dust from the breaker she was finishing before continuing in a more teasing note. “You may be a little dumb...or well, _very_ dumb for thinking such stupid things, but _definitely_ you ain’t weak.”

“I agree.” Lady half-turned his body while sitting on the driver seat to look at him. “You saved me, remember? And that’s something that just ‘the fucking hero of the day’ has managed to do.”

“And I bet he still reminds you about it, right?”

“You can bet he does, jeez. One of these days he’ll end with my launcher up his ass.”

“Hey hey hey, I didn’t improve your weapon so that you taint it like that!”

“Excuse me? With the money I’ve paid you I can use it however I want!”

“‘Kay, then you’ll have to pay an extra fee for it.”

“What!? Why!?”

“For disrespecting your awesome weapon by wanting to use it as a dildo.”

“It was a matter of speaking! You just want an excuse to make me pay more!”

“Maybe, but this gal has to put food on the table!”

Trish cleared her throat to interrupt the discussion, but despite the reproachful glance the blonde woman threw at the brunettes, the crazier and crazier conversation had helped improve Nero’s mood a bit.

“Anyway, as I was saying,” Nero looked at Trish again when this one talked, missing that way Lady’s roll of eyes for having been silently reprimanded by Trish, “we all know what you’re capable of. I witnessed first-hand how you dealt with the incident in Fortuna five years ago, and you have improved since then, so your abilities aren’t the reason why we’re asking you to step aside.”

Trish sounded sincere, and also Nico and Lady when intervening, so he felt relieved that at least some people thought he was an asset for the mission. It was a pity that the person whose opinion mattered the most to him at the moment was the one who seemed to believe less in him.

“Then what is the reason?”

Trish placed her hands on her hips while averting her eyes to the side. She remained in silence for a few seconds, until Nico broke the silence with an exaggerated sigh.

“Damn, guys, you surely love suspense, huh?”

Nero expected that Trish glared at Nico again, but the woman still remained some extra seconds lost in her thoughts before bringing herself to look at him again.

“Let’s say this is Dante’s war, so battling Urizen is a duty that belongs to him and him alone.”

Nero frowned. He had expected to have some answers, not to be even more confused than before.

“Dante’s war? But I thought it was V the one who had some unfinished business with Urizen.”

Trish’s expression didn’t change, but the way she blinked indicated that the woman was a little surprised by his comment.

“What has V told you exactly?”

Nero snorted and dropped backwards to lean against the toilet’s door with his arms crossed.

“Not much. He doesn’t like to talk about it.” Less than an hour ago he would have left it at that, knowing that V wouldn’t appreciate he talked about that topic behind his back, but he was still angry at the invoker for his lack of confidence so he continued. “I know there is some kind of connection between them, and that Urizen has something to do with his current state. He also blames himself for what Urizen has done up till now, as if he was responsible for it, but why he does that, I don’t know. It doesn’t have fucking sense.”

The more he talked, the less imperturbable Trish’s face looked, until the woman was unable to hold back her surprise.

“You seem to know a lot about him.”

Nero opened his mouth to answer, but Nico was faster.

“Your peaky magician is surely the complicated type, huh?”

He was going to eagerly agree with Nico when noticing the shocked expression Trish was showing.

“ _Your_ peaky magician?”

Again, Nero’s attempts of answering were cut by Lady, who talked while standing up from the front seat.

“Oh, yeah, you don’t know.” She dropped on the sofa to recover the magazine that Trish had stolen from her. “They are together.”

“Shocking, huh? Yeah, I almost suffer a stroke too,” Nico intervened with a mocking tone, signaling at him next with a wrench. “In fact I almost kill this idiot when I learned about it, but hey, against all odds it seems that they don’t make _such_ a bad couple—”

“Does Dante know this?”

Nero’s eyes, who had been dragged to Nico with stupor when this one admitted that she didn’t dislike their relationship so much, returned to Trish when hearing her question.

“Yeah, he knows.”

He didn’t understand why Trish gulped, looking even tenser than before.

“Okay,” she said almost to herself, as if she was trying to calm down before talking. “And did he say something about it?”

Nero frowned and stopped leaning against the toilet door, keeping his arms crossed.

“No, but he looked as dumbfounded as you right now.” He tilted his head to the side, not bothering to hide his suspicion. “So what’s wrong, Trish? Because no offense, but neither Dante nor you know me _that_ much to give a crap about whom I’m with.”

Trish sustained his gaze with no effort, but he could feel the woman’s discomfort for having been exposed. At least, he was glad for not being the only one in missing something, because Nico and Lady were also looking at the woman inquisitively, wanting to know more.

“There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just...unexpected.”

Nero’s frown accentuated, because the woman’s excessive calm tone made him think there was something to worry.

“You know more than you're telling me, right?”

Nero ignored the resigned ‘ _More suspense, yey_ ’ that Nico muttered, not dragging his eyes away from Trish not to lose her reaction. He was expecting that Trish tried to deny it, but she nodded instead with a light apologetic expression.

“Yes, but it’s not relevant now.” Trish raised a hand when he opened his mouth to insist. “If you are with V as you say, you should invest your time in searching for him. Because unlike Dante, who doesn’t need you yet, perhaps V does.”

Nero’s heart skipped a beat when detecting some urgency behind Trish’s words.

“Wait, do you know what’s happening to him?”

It was evident that Trish was carefully choosing her words as she talked.

“I simply know that, in his state, he shouldn’t be on his own. And I also have the feeling that V is not the kind of person who opens himself to others, so if he has allowed you by his side, that’s the place where you should be right now instead of wasting time here. Because if something were to happen to him in the meantime, I'm sure you’ll regret it.”

Nero gulped. If the circumstances had been different, he’d have spent more time asking Trish why the hell she seemed to know so much about V, but at the moment he only paid attention to the woman’s words.

She was right. It was evident that V was _not_ okay, and that the more they proceeded forward, the worst he was. And even if he had been aware of that, what had he done? He had left the man on his own due to a damn argument. He knew that the invoker wasn’t alone, and that his familiars were there to help, but still Nero now felt like crap for not having seen what truly mattered; for having allowed that his jealousy for Dante and his frustration for not being doing enough took the best of him, preventing him from standing by V even when this one was stubborn enough not to admit to need help.

“ _Fuck_.”

Nero would have left right there and then if Nico hadn’t shouted a rapid string of ‘ _Hey!_ ’s in his direction.

“Dude, I know you want to go to your lova, but ain’t you forgetting something?!”

At that moment Nero realized that he was missing an arm, which made him curse again and return inside the van while Lady chuckled to herself.

"Someone is really in love."

If he hadn’t been busy urging Nico to finish the sets of arms as fast as possible, he would have maybe noticed the puzzled expression that had passed through Trish’s factions after Lady commented that.

* * *

“How do you have so much power left!?”

Nero turned that weird chicken-lady demon’s words into her final ones with a charged, well aimed shot of Blue Rose. While the demon vanished in the air with a final anguished cry, he exhaled a tired sigh and holstered his weapon before beginning to walk forward. He made a two-seconds pause to compose himself before talking towards V, who was hiding in the upper level.

“You can come out now!”

He was glad when his voice didn’t sound as relieved as he felt. The time that it took Griffon to carry V to ground level also allowed his breath and heartbeats to normalize, since they were pretty accelerated and not just for the fight.

Shit, it had been a close call. If he had arrived there a few seconds later, maybe that demon would have managed to get to V, and given the effort it took the invoker to straighten his position, he doubted that the man would have managed to get alive from it.

However, if he wanted to have any chance so that V didn’t accuse him of over worrying, he better remove any concern from his face, and pretend that he wasn’t fighting the urge of clenching his jaw when seeing that there were even more cracks in V’s whole body than the last time.

“I guess I owe you one.”

He managed to keep still and refrain the impulse of reaching the invoker when this one was about to fall onto the irregular terrain. What he couldn’t hold back was to talk in order to try to make V listen to reason.

“You should turn around. Your body is not going to last much longer.”

“That, I cannot do.” Shit, V could barely form a sentence without losing his breath. “I must go.”

V tripped over but Nero was close enough to catch him before the man’s knees suffered a big impact against the ground.

“Dammit, V.” It was difficult to see V struggling on his knees, not having the strength to stand on his feet anymore. Damn, he wanted to bring V back to the van and force him to lie on the sofa, but he tried to appeal to his common sense a last time before doing something that would gain him the invoker’s anger again. “Don’t push yourself. You need some rest!”

“I must go...where Urizen is.”

He stood up with his teeth gritted, and gave up in trying to hide his exasperation.

“Why? Why the hell you have to—”

“I beg you. This is my last request.”

Nero let out the breath he had held when hearing V _plea_ , something that he had never seen and that he hadn’t expected to ever witness. Part of him still feared that V kept going and pushed himself past beyond his limit. That he collapsed again, and that this time it took him way more time to wake up.

However, V’s words had made clear that, for whatever reason, taking V to Urizen was something the invoker needed with urgency, as if his life itself depended on it. And therefore, Nero wrongly assumed that his questions could wait a little longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, though it was funny to make Nero interact with the ladies :)
> 
> Next chapter will probably be short too since it's just Dante advancing and kicking demons' asses, and after that FINALLY the shit hits the fan!


	16. Mission 16

**_June 15 - 1:13 p.m._ **

“No hard feelings guys, but this is my gig!” Dante doubted either Nero or V could hear him from wherever they had landed, but nevertheless he shouted that before talking to himself. “Trust me, Nero...This one’s gonna be a little too much for ya.”

He continued his way downward non-stop, but when he reached a hole leading to a lower level that was almost completely frozen, his instincts told him to make a small pause, feeling a bigger, familiar danger waiting ahead.

Dante sat on the edge of the hole with his legs hanging from it. He leaned back on his hands, took a deep breath, and exhaled a resigned laugh. Up till then, the continuous fights that he had been facing had kept him busy enough not to think about the upcoming fight, and neither about the implications it would carry. But now, with that fake calm surrounding him, all those thoughts he had been avoiding came to him at once.

Damn it. Everything had turned messier than it already was, something that he hadn’t thought possible when he woke up after his coma and assessed the situation. It was already bad that V had asked Nero for help, ignoring his condition of _NOT_ involving the kid in the mission, but he had thought that reaching Urizen in time would be enough to fix everything. He just needed to go there, kill the beast that his brother had become, and Nero would _never_ know about Urizen’s true identity. The kid would be able to go back to his life in Fortuna, unaware that the demon who had been about to cause an early Apocalypse and who he had been forced to kill was his father.

It was supposed to be easy and simple, a perfect plan, but he had been naive. Because come on, when was the last time everything had gone according to plan? As far as he remembered... _never_. It _always_ happened something to complicate things, and this time it had come out in the form of that mysterious invoker who had turned everything upside-down in more ways than one.

Dante sighed. He was still unable to believe that Nero and V were together. When the hell had happened? Nah, that wasn’t the good question. The ‘when’ was obvious, given that Nero and V didn’t know each other before Urizen appeared in Red Grave. No, the question was _how_ the hell had happened.

Last time he checked, Nero was with that cutie that he’d been dating since he was a teenager. Hell, weren’t they engaged or some serious shit like that? And regarding Vergil, well...It was Vergil. As far as he knew, his brother wasn’t the kind of man who’d allow himself to get too attached to anyone. And well, obviously the fact he had intimated that much _with his son_ had been shocking, but hey, given what an oblivious father Vergil was, ironically _that_ wasn't the most shocking part.

No, what had pulled the rug from under his feet was that he’d have _never_ imagined that one day he would see Vergil involved in a serious relationship. It was true that he had missed most part of Vergil’s life. They had spent practically all their childhood separated, and the two times they managed to meet had ended the same way: with Vergil disappearing from the face of earth. But still, although he hadn’t had much time to bond with his brother in a normal way, it didn’t mean he didn’t know him.

Dante would love to say that during those years he had never stopped looking for Vergil, but it wasn’t true. He had gone through phases that he wasn’t proud of, especially after the second time they met and he believed _he_ had killed Vergil. He remembered spending the time battling demons during the day with no purpose, and drowning his guilt in cheap alcohol and even cheaper companies during the night, until he woke up in beds that he didn’t remember how he had ended into.

Yeah, he hadn’t been at his best. Actually, he had been very close to hit rock bottom. Trish and Lady had been quite worried for him. They always criticized him for being too much of a bigmouth, and for his tasteless jokes and innuendos, but he was pretty sure that in case of teasing them with coming back to be the quiet type from back then, they would murder him this time for real.

However, despite all his ups and downs, at the end he never gave up in trying to find a lead that would take him to Vergil. He never stopped believing deep inside that his brother had to be alive somewhere, and that they were fated to meet and fight again. And hey, he had been right! But of course, karma wanted that, by when he finally found him, it was to see that Vergil was corrupted beyond salvation. And people called him lucky, huh? Hell, he didn’t want to know what could happen to him if he was _not_ lucky.

Although well, he guessed it had been a luck that Nero interrupted them before, because him confessing V that he had been in love with Vergil for a while now would have difficulted everything even more.

Dante sighed with resignation and lied back against the ground, with his fingers interlaced behind his head and his eyes closed. At least, he was glad that his heart didn’t betray him by beating faster anymore as it used to happen to him years ago, when he refused to admit such truth until the day Trish forced him to confront such reality.

Needless to say, falling for his brother wasn’t something he had been seeking. It just kinda happened during the years that he spent tracking Vergil without success. Before investigating his brother, he had always rejected the choices Vergil made. He had never liked that Vergil chose his demonic heritage over his human one after all the trouble it had caused them. Also, there were some (a lot) of decisions that his brother had made that he'd have never made, but now he understood most part of the motives that forced Vergil to act the way he did.

He may not agree with Vergil's methods, but against his initial will, the more he had learned about what his brother had gone through and done, the more his admiration grew. An admiration that evolved into something more, and that soon spiraled out of control until he began to crave Vergil in a way that human morality for sure would condemn.

Of course, the idea of doing something about it had never crossed his mind. He had always assumed that in case of meeting Vergil again, this one would want to beat him to death with an extra dose of hate for having abandoned him two consecutive times. He didn’t think he deserved to express such feelings, after the way he had screwed everything up.

For that reason, when talking to V he hadn’t planned to say anything. But when V took his hand, and when seeing the shocked expression that he displayed when knowing about that scar he had chosen to always keep, he couldn’t contain himself. Trish had been right. If there existed a proper chance to talk, it should have been then, and if Nero hadn’t appeared, maybe he would have done more than confessing.

Maybe he would have done something much more stupid, such as kissing V just to test the waters. And in case the answer was positive, and while completely ignoring the pressing time, he would have tried to continue what he mockingly started in his bedroom of Devil May Cry office, even if at the moment he had merely planned to scare V when this one made the mistake of trying to sass him.

Damn, why the hell hadn’t he discovered V’s identity sooner? If back then he had only realized who V was, maybe everything would be different. Maybe Urizen would have been defeated already because they’d have followed a different strategy to face him, a _better_ strategy. Maybe there’d have been a way of saving Vergil from the monster he had become without having to kill him. Maybe it wouldn’t be Nero the person V, _Vergil_ , was with.

Dante snorted a self-mocking laugh, thinking about the irony of the situation. Definitely the Sparda Family was special _and_ dysfunctional to say the least. However, there was no point in wasting time thinking about all those possibilities that weren’t going to ever happen. By then, he had resigned himself to the idea that killing Vergil was inevitable.

It sucked, and if he could sell his damn soul to avoid doing it, he would. But this wasn’t a fairy tale. Nah, ladies and gentlemen, this was the crude reality: that old, lonely bitch that got wet when thinking about tragedy and that would force him to kill Vergil without giving him the option of doing things right for once.

Also, as hard as it could be for him, it would be also tough for Nero. It didn’t take a genius to deduce what would happen to V when Urizen was killed. He really doubted V could exist as an independent entity once the whole disappeared after all, so no matter how he looked at it, the Sparda Family was fucked one way or the other. At end, it seemed that it wasn’t on the menu that fortune smiled at them.

After exhaling a new deep breath Dante opened his eyes and straightened his position again.

“Well, I think I've wasted enough time daydreaming.” He stretched his arms over his head and planted his hands on the ground on either side of his body with determination. “I can’t allow those kids to win when I’m so close.”

Dante dropped into the pit to land on the frozen floor. At least, the battle with that giant puppy allowed him some moments of entertainment before proceeding downwards towards a fight that, he felt, wouldn’t be as damn easy.

He wasn’t going to give up though. He would still try to convince Urizen to leave that stupid tree alone, even if he was sure he would fail. Against what most part of the people could think about him, he wasn’t that happy-go-lucky to believe that Urizen would listen. Vergil had never listened to reason, and much less to him, so believing that his unleashed demonic part was going to do it now was being too optimistic.

But hey, he’d never know until he tried, right? And if there was a tiny opportunity to end that mess with his brother in one piece, he had to bet for it, no matter how high the chances of losing his life in the process were.

As people loved to say, no pain no gain, and since by then everyone knew about his ( _just_ light) masochistic tendencies, he better live up to his reputation up till the very end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be honest, Dante's feelings for Vergil isn't something I had planned to explore in this fic, but it kinda ended happening.
> 
> Mission 17 is ALMOST here!! So for the ones waiting for Vergil to finally appear in the series, I hope you're looking forward the next chapters :)


	17. Mission 17

**_June 15 - 2:01 p.m._ **

Just before abandoning Malphas’ dimension, V had been determined to follow his familiars’ advice to tell Nero everything once and for all. However, the instant he stepped in the real world, he realized he had been naive because his limit was closer than he had predicted. At that rate he would die before being able to reach Urizen, and before being able to give all those explanations that he had promised Nero he would get someday.

He couldn’t keep wasting a time he didn’t have, so he started talking while Nero helped him move forward.

“The truth is...I wanted to be protected and loved...But I was alone. My only choice was to survive.”

He lost his footing after spelling the last word, as if providence wanted to remind him that such a wish had been too optimistic.

“V, you gotta rest.”

Nero’s words came out quite breathless, making obvious that he was also tired despite the efforts the devil hunter was putting into hiding it. V wasn’t surprised about it. The boy’s confrontation with Malphas hadn’t been easy. The more the fight had prolonged, the more frenetic and unpredictable the bird’s movements had become, and V had found himself holding his breath on several occasions in which Nero had managed to dodge an attack by a too short margin.

But again, his mind was rambling, and he couldn’t allow that. Only talking required a ridiculous amount of effort out of him, so he better forget that speech that he had prepared while Nero fought for his sake. Also, with his skin breaking apart in a slow but unforgiving rhythm with each step, he couldn’t give any unnecessary information.

He had to choose what Nero should know, and he had to do it fast.

“Nero…” He leaned his cane on the ground and slowly raised to his feet again. “I will tell you everything.”

He could feel Nero’s eyes buried in him without having to look at the boy, but he didn’t let it distract him.

“There is no demon named Urizen... Only a man who threw away his humanity, in an endless pursuit of power.” He turned his head to look at Nero. “He is Dante’s older brother.”

Nero frowned.

“Dante’s brother?”

“Yes.” V could perfectly imagine Griffon sighing when the pause that followed turned out longer and more dramatic than he intended, but he didn’t do it on purpose. After so much time avoiding talking to Nero about this, he felt his heartbeat accelerate before pronouncing the next words. “And his real name is…Vergil.”

Nero kept looking at him for a few seconds before talking again.

“They are brothers? Why are they fighting each other?”

The source of Nero’s confusion was in that second question rather than in the first. It seemed that he wasn’t too surprised to discover that Dante had a brother, perhaps because he already knew, or because he didn’t care about the older devil hunter enough to mind about his family ties.

“To see one’s justice through, a man must fight for it. Even if the one who stands before him is his kin.”

Nero blinked before snapping the next words with a vehemence that V wasn’t expecting.

“That’s ridiculous.”

At any other moment, V would have probably been irritated that Nero dismissed Vergil’s resolve so lightly. However, now that he felt the embrace of death so close, he had to admit that having devoted most part of his life to that goal may have been a little childish.

“The brothers of blood disagree in the very reason of their existence. They must fight.”

Nero snorted and crossed his arms.

“That’s bullshit. If you have a family, you should aim to protect it, not risk losing it over a petty fight.”

The irritation that slipped in Nero’s words indicated that the boy was taking it as a personal offense, and it didn’t take V much to understand why. For an orphan, the concept of family was a controversial one. Some refused to acknowledge its value after having been unfairly deprived from it since a young age, while others never stopped seeking it.

V had come to know Nero enough to understand where he stood. The boy had never expressed his will of finding his parents, and it was obvious that he resented them for having abandoned him. However, his life in Fortuna with Credo and _that_ woman had made him respect the values that a family provided. For sure that was the reason why he reacted so strongly when someone like Dante, who had the luck of having a blood related brother, was so willing to sever that bond.

If Nero only knew how... _particular_ the Sparda twins' relation was, perhaps he wouldn’t be that surprised for such an outcome, but that was a topic V couldn’t delve into. At least, not in the detail he should in order to make Nero understand.

“And where do you fit in all this?” Nero suddenly asked straight out while V was still choosing his next words. “Because Trish told me before that all this thing with Urizen is Dante’s war, so how did you get involved with Dante and his brother?”

V opened his mouth to speak, and froze when the words didn’t come to him, as if they had got stuck in his throat. Among all the times when such a thing could happen to him, why did it have to be then? It was frustrating. He had really wanted to be sincere with Nero. He had carefully planned what to say, but the words weren’t obeying him. Again, he could imagine Griffon mocking him for going blank when he could recite all those poems without thinking hard about it.

“It’s complicated.”

He couldn’t believe he had muttered such a pathetic excuse to gain time.

“Okay, then I’ll conform myself with the easy version.”

V exhaled a humorless chuckle when hearing Nero’s stubborn comment.

“There’s no easy version, Nero.”

“But you’ve just said you’d tell me everything.”

“I know, and I want to.” V’s own frustration washed away Nero’s disappointment. “Believe me, for the first time, I really want to tell you everything, Nero, but I... I _don’t_ know how, not with the little time I have. But if you take me to Urizen, I promise that you’ll understand everything.”

Nero stared him in silence, and then shook his head.

“No.” Nero entered his personal space to snap the following words. “No, I don’t want to understand everything. I want your word that _you_ will be there to explain it to me.”

V sustained Nero’s intense gaze. For someone who threw himself into danger without thinking about the consequences more times than not, Nero had learnt how to be subtle sometimes. The boy didn’t have to add anything else so that V understood that Nero was asking him to come alive from their current mission, something that V planned to do, even if it wasn’t in the way Nero would be expecting.

“I will.”

His tone must have shown more conviction than the one he was feeling because Nero nodded, resuming then their walk after hooking V’s arm around his neck again.

“We’re gonna make it, okay? _You_ are gonna make it.”

A faint smile appeared in V’s face when Nero’s tone became almost threatening, as if the boy was defying fate itself when saying that. At that moment, he was once again aware of the strength of the feelings the boy harbored towards him, and he realized that it could be the very last time he could be sincere about his own.

Because after becoming one with Urizen, after being complete again, perhaps he wouldn’t have another chance. Would his feelings live through his current physical existence? Would they remain as they were inside Vergil, or would they be overcome by his demonic nature that had grown stronger as he became weaker? In theory, they should co-exist, as they had always done before, but he wasn’t sure anymore.

However, there was just one thing that he held no doubts about. Even if the best-case scenario happened and those feelings that he had towards Nero transcended, he was sure that Vergil would never express them aloud.

So, all things considered, there was just a course of action to take.

“But you better not be lying to me on this, you hear me?” Nero was saying while V took a deep breath, getting ready. “Because I really want to know how the hell you ended in this mess, and if you keep giving excuses after we defeat that bastard I promise that—”

The next words V pronounced made Nero stop in his tracks, with his eyes and mouth open wide.

The boy turned his head to look at him, and despite his critical condition, V couldn’t help to smirk when seeing the dumbfounded face Nero was making, because that was the exact reaction that he had expected from the devil hunter.

“What did you say?”

V took another deep breath, finding amusing that he was having difficulties in keeping Nero’s hopeful look when he had never averted his gaze from the most intimidating enemies. He kept thinking that feelings were surely one of the scariest things. That belief would never change. But thanks to that reckless, now astonished boy in front of him, he had learned to face them, to accept them, and not to run away from them. And he dared to hope that Vergil would do the same too when the moment came.

“I love you.”

Nero looked at him in bewilderment, as if he was waiting for him to make a retort, but V did none.

“Fuck,” Nero muttered after some seconds, exhaling an incredulous laugh before hugging V tightly. “Shit, for you to say that, you _really_ have to be about to die.”

V smiled and enclosed his arms around Nero’s back, although he didn’t have enough strength to properly return the hug.

“It took you a lot to notice. I thought my skin crumbling was a pretty loud hint of my dying state.”

Nero snorted at his irony before separating.

“Took _you_ a lot to say that back.”

Nero snarled that comment against his lips, but the way V was kissed next was very gentle. The invoker sighed with satisfaction when the devil hunter managed to deepen the kiss while still being careful, and he had to hold back the urge to curse when their lips parted ways, because it wasn’t enough. Nero was the culprit that he wanted more, that he needed more, and for that reason, he couldn't confront his fate without doing a last thing.

“There is something else you must know.”

V opened his mouth to keep talking just to close it again, realizing that what he wanted to say was more difficult than he had thought it’d be.

If everything had gone according to plan, he would have been able to spend a decent amount of time explaining Nero who Vergil was, why he had been forced to leave Nero half-dead after ripping his arm off, and how he and Urizen had come to exist.

But now he couldn’t. His current state was making them be twice as slow, since he didn’t even have the energy to summon Shadow to travel fast. And if, by any chance, Nero didn’t forgive him for what Urizen did, then he could say goodbye to his chances of survival. It was evident that the boy hated Urizen with all his might, and V couldn’t predict with certainty what the boy’s reaction would be when learning about his connection with the Demon King. So, even if the risk of Nero leaving him on the lurch was extremely thin, he couldn’t take it. No when his life was at stake.

At the end, even if for the first time he would have wanted to avoid it, a belated, half-hidden truth was his only option.

“You won’t understand it now, because telling you everything will raise too many questions that I don’t have time to answer, but I need you to remember what I’m going to tell you.”

It was evident that Nero was already dying to ask more, but the urgency in his voice caused the boy to nod obediently, indicating him to continue.

“In a future, perhaps there is a time in which you will not recognize me as I am now; in which I may look different to everyone’s eyes; in which my feelings for you could look clouded, even nonexistent.” V placed his hand on Nero’s shoulder and pressed it with the little force he still had. “But when that happens, you must remember it will still be me, that I will still be there, that I will still harbor feelings for you. And if I am not capable of acknowledging it, if I turn out to be too stubborn to accept such a reality…”

V approached his face to Nero, burying his eyes on Nero’s puzzled ones.

“...you must promise me that you will be even more stubborn, that you will not forget this, that you will remember your word of never giving up on us. Because I never asked for this, but now that I have it, now that I have you,” V gulped, while totally loathing himself for the desperation that tinged his next words, “I don’t want anyone to take it away from me. Not even myself.”

A silence fell between them, during which Nero simply observed him with the most confused expression V had ever seen him display.

It was evident that the boy didn’t understand what he was asking for, and that several questions were rounding his head. Questions that Nero had the right to ask, and that V must have answered long ago if he hadn’t been so scared back then.

However, even if V was afraid that Nero chose to press him for answers, the boy didn’t ask anything.

The only thing the devil hunter did was to press his forehead against V’s, take his hands into his, and look back at him with his blue eyes shining with the usual indomitable determination.

“I promise, V. I said I’d fight against whatever that tried to interfere to get to you, remember? Well, I’ll do. Even if it’s you, and even if I have zero idea what this is all about.”

A chuckle escaped V when hearing Nero’s honest words, and for the first time it was him the one who enclosed his arms around Nero to hug him again.

“You’ll understand soon, Nero. You have my word.”

The next time Nero kissed him, V was also the one who intensified it. He made sure to burn every single detail of it in his memory: the way Nero’s lips felt, the pleasant weight of Nero’s hands on his hips, the warmth Nero’s eyes displayed after they separated to go on.

Because, in a way, V knew it was going to be their last kiss, and he planned to savor it just in case he never came to experience it again.

* * *

**_2:23 p.m._ **

Dante had learned something during the hours he had spent walking around that damn tree, and it was that its power couldn’t be underestimated. So, when he jumped into what it seemed to be the last damn hole of the floor and he found himself falling from the sky until landing on earthy ground, he knew it wasn’t real. For sure the outside world surrounding him was a mere illusion, and the only real things around were Urizen and that weird root.

“Vergil…” He stood up, noticing at that moment what had caught Urizen’s attention. “Hey, is that the damn fruit that you’ve been jabbering about? Doesn’t look so special to me.”

Dante was expecting some remark to his mocking. Probably, if Vergil had been the one standing there, he would have answered with a biting sarcasm, but Urizen didn’t say anything. Mr. Demon King simply continued observing the fruit, paying no attention to him as if he wasn’t something deserving his attention.

The devil hunter stilled his steps and sighed with resignation, taking some seconds to think what the better approach could be. He doubted that appealing to Urizen’s good side was gonna work, so he had to find something that convinced him to renounce that fruit, even if it was gonna be a pretty impossible task given the way the guy was _ogling_ at it.

At the end, a look towards his left provided Dante with a possible solution. The past years had allowed him to discover that his brother was an even bigger idiot than him, and that he had been living under false beliefs all that time, so maybe he could use that.

“Yup, this is where it all started. That day mother saved me and... left you behind.” Dante shook his head and kept talking with a frustrated tone product of the bullshit he had just said. “The thing you don’t know is, she tried to save you, too. She kept searching and searching...Until it killed her.”

At least, that comment provoked a reaction out of Urizen, even if it wasn’t the one Dante was waiting for.

“I have no recollection of this tale, or this place. It’s all an illusion, created by this extraordinary fruit.”

Urizen’s tone didn’t betray any emotions, so Dante couldn’t tell if he was telling the truth about not remembering anything of their past lives. However, he decided to wait. Making any brusque moves that hinted how badly he wanted to kick that idiot’s face could shatter his chances of putting a ‘peaceful’ end to everything.

Besides, the fact that Urizen hadn’t eaten the fruit yet could be something indicative, right? Maybe everything wasn’t lost yet. Maybe inside all those branches there was just a bit of common sense and Urizen was actually having some doubts about carrying out his evil plan and...

“Its power, you see, is all I ever wanted. And with this...”

Shit, or maybe not.

Dante’s body moved by impulse. He ran to try to reach Urizen after this one reaped the fruit, but deep inside he knew that he wouldn’t make it in time.

“...I will have everything!”

Dante stopped when Urizen engulfed that bloody apple in one go. He gritted his teeth while observing the Demon King’s transformation, angry at himself for not having found a way to prevent it from happening, but angrier at Vergil for having sunk so damn low.

“No, brother, you don’t have everything.” _But you could have, dammit. At the very least, you could’ve had me_ , he thought, but didn’t say. “That last shred of humanity that you still had? You just lost it!”

Urizen turned to look at him while more pieces of skin armor fell from his body.

“That is nothing but the pitiful cries of those without strength. Come to me, brother...I shall enlighten you, Dante!”

Dante took a deep breath and unleashed his sword while Urizen stared at his own hand, clearly amazed at his own power.

“You ready to do this, Vergil? It all ends here!”

In the past, every time he had fought his brother, there had been meaning behind it. Well, more or less. In retrospective, maybe their fights as kids weren’t too relevant, such as when they destroyed the living room with their recently acquired swords to fight for the last chocolate, but even then, every time they had fought it had been to achieve something.

Right now, there was zero purpose behind Urizen’s attacks. Vergil had been no saint, and a bunch of the decisions he made and the methods he followed had been merciless and cruel, but at least he had always sought power with an objective in mind.

But Urizen, he just wanted power for the sake of having it. He wanted to be the most powerful being ever, but he didn’t even know why. That was the result of having discarded his humanity. Without a goal to have, Urizen was just a gigantic mass of living flesh driven forward by a thirst of power that would never be sated, and that’s why Dante planned to put an end to him right then and there.

Saving Vergil wasn’t in his hands anymore. It would be a new damn scar that Dante would carry within him in all the years to come. But although he couldn’t save Vergil anymore, he could at least kill him before he fell even lower, because he refused to let Vergil be trapped in such a shitty existence.

As Dante was fearing, it wasn’t an easy battle. Urizen’s powerful kicks and attacks bruised bones and muscles he didn’t know he had up till then. However, he wasn’t planning to be beaten. Not this time. Not by this being who had corrupted his brother beyond repair.

It didn’t matter how many times he hit the ground, or the soreness surrounding him from head to toe, Dante stood up every single time with renewed vigor, striking twice as hard and fast. And eventually, he regained the upper hand, making Urizen talk in a voice that sounded half-shocking, half-frustrated.

“How...How are you so powerful!? You never lost anything!”

Dante snorted and avoided a new attack before shifting to his devil trigger form.

“It's not about loss... Strength is a choice. Fighting like hell to protect what's important.” In his triggered state, his snarled words sounded even more emphatic. “You threw away everything you ever had... No wonder you have no true power!”

It took him several more minutes to land the strike that made Urizen finally fall to his knees. Dante didn’t waste that chance. He lunged forward with his sword in front of him in order to dig it in the eye Urizen had in the middle of his chest. When doing so, he looked up. His jaw clenched when seeing the face Urizen was making. At least, he guessed he had to be glad not to find any resemblance to his brother in those monstrous factions, because watching Vergil’s face contorted in such an agonizing expression would’ve probably been too painful to see.

He dug his sword the deepest he could before taking a jump backwards to deliver the biggest possible damage. The whole ground trembled when Urizen fell backwards to the ground, defeated. Dante relaxed his stance then and allowed himself a moment to catch his breath.

However, before he could approach Urizen to grant him a fast death, someone called his name, making him suppress the urge of cursing while looking behind.

* * *

**_3:03 p.m._ **

“You’re late... just finishing up.”

Nero continued dragging V forward until they were at Dante’s level. Catching the old man had been tougher than they had anticipated. The continuous battles he had been facing and especially his confrontation against the bird-lady had left his energies running rather low. He had tried to hold on as much as he could, but at the end they had been forced to rest for a bit.

Both V and him had sat against the wall of the second cave they had run into, shoulder to shoulder. They only planned to make a 5 minutes stop, but Nero had accidentally dozed off without noticing. When opening his eyes again, almost half an hour had passed, and his heart had stopped for a moment when finding that V had slid towards the ground and was curling on one of his sides. The invoker had only fainted out of exhaustion though, but the small scare had renewed Nero’s energies to keep going.

Since Nero preferred that V saved as much strength as possible, he had carried the unconscious invoker piggyback during the following 15 minutes. At some point though the terrain turned too irregular to continue carrying V that way, so he had been forced to wake the man up in order to proceed. At least, the almost 45 minutes nap had allowed V to feel a little more rested, though he still needed Nero’s help to go downwards since invoking his familiars was totally out of question.

They barely talked on their way, but V had already said what Nero had most needed to hear, even if he hadn’t been aware of it until the invoker had spoken those words. Of course, there were a lot of things that he still had to know, but Nero knew he could wait all the necessary to learn about them.

At last, he could simply focus on their current situation without having to worry about what V could be hiding, since he had the feeling that V hadn’t lied before, and that he would have those answers soon.

“Is that really your brother?” he asked Dante in disbelief when seeing Urizen lying on the ground, looking quite different from the last time he confronted him.

“I’m afraid so.”

He was surprised when Dante’s tone sounded more resigned than sad, as if the old man had somehow accepted his brother’s fate, knowing there was nothing else to do about it.

“So he was behind all this. Your own flesh and blood.”

“Right again.”

Dante’s tone didn’t change, but Nero noticed that the pause that preceded Dante’s answer had been a little longer than usual. He didn’t have time to think much about it though, since at that moment he noticed that V had been approaching Urizen while they talked.

“In the last throes of defeat, I see.”

Nero hadn’t been too worried about V wanting to take a closer look at Urizen. After all it was evident that the demon had made him miserable, and for sure observing him in the brink of dead would provide him some satisfaction. However, when Urizen raised his head a little to the ground to look at V, he instantly tensed.

“You…”

At that moment Dante said aloud what he was thinking.

“V, get back! Things are about to get really messy.”

Since the older devil hunter approached V with the clear intention of stopping him, Nero decided to remain in his place. Besides, from there he had a better view that would allow him to act fast in case Urizen did something unexpected.

“No! Please…” V’s weakened voice had the same urgency that when he had begged Nero to bring him to Urizen. “Let me. I want to end this battle...with my own hands.”

Nero thought that Dante would protest against the petition. As much as he hated to admit it, Dante seemed to be like him in certain aspects, and he expected that the idea of V stealing the final blow from him would upset the older devil hunter. However, Dante seemed to be okay with it, since the man simply tilted his head in accordance and leaned his sword over his shoulder while observing V continue his way to Urizen.

Due to the distance and to the fact that by then V could only talk in whispers, Nero had difficulties in understanding what the invoker was saying. He heard what Urizen said though, about not losing to Dante and about needing more power.

Then V talked some more, and when, this time in a louder voice, V began to recite one of his poems, Nero didn’t think there was anything weird about it.

“ _While thy branches mix with mine…_ ”

After all, that was V’s usual way of fighting, to use poetry in order to potentiate his attacks, a theory that was proved when the invoker began to lift his cane while continuing with the second verse.

“ _...And our roots together join._ ”

There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary in the image he was seeing. Nothing that could warn Nero about what was about to happen.

For that reason, he didn’t understand why suddenly Dante got pale and began to run towards V with the clear intention of stopping him.

He didn’t understand why instead of vanishing, like every time that V finished an enemy off, a beacon of light emerged from Urizen, shattering their fake surroundings and creating a blast that threw Dante and him backwards.

And definitely, he didn’t understand why in the place where Urizen and V had been before, there was a single man standing, giving his back to them.

A man who he had never seen before, and that made Dante spell a single name in a shocked, angry tone.

_Vergil._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And finally, Vergil has formally appeared in the series!! Truth is he hasn't done much yet but appearing in a fashion manner, but anyway, he's here!! I cannot belive we have finally reached this point after 47 chapters :') 
> 
> Next chapter will probably be a loong one because a bunch of things happen, but as usual I will try to post it ASAP <3 <3


	18. Mission 18

**_June 15 - 3:06 p.m._ **

One aspect that Vergil had most welcomed when he discarded his humanity and his demonic nature took the reins of his existence was the incapacity of dreaming.

The first time it happened he had been quite surprised by it, but he had soon come up with a rather easy explanation for such a phenomenon. In his new almighty form, feelings such as remorse, guilt, fear or sadness had no place to exist, so during the times he had needed to rest while continuing nurturing himself with the power the Qliphoth provided, he had been able to enjoy a rest devoid of nightmares for the first time in decades.

Of course, there had been a price to pay for getting rid of his human half. His mind had become more unstable, and controlling his new massive body demanded a considerable effort and a bigger amount of energy. So, during the time it had taken the Qliphoth to fully grow, he had suffered from occasional blackouts followed by a void of what had happened during the previous hours.

Vergil never thought it was such an inconvenience though. Even when dormant, the aura surrounding him was enough to annihilate any demons that got too close for their own good without having to lift a finger.

Besides, during that month and half he hadn’t missed at all to remember. Memories tended to do more harm than good in his case, so the lack of them was something he had come to enjoy.

Therefore, he felt quite shocked when he suddenly found himself inside his old body, staring at a familiar sight that wasn’t the usual impenetrable darkness that had been accompanying him whenever he closed his eyes.

As usual, Vergil had no immediate recollection of when he had fallen asleep, nor what he had been doing just before appearing there, but he paid no mind to it for the moment. His focus was now in understanding why that building was in front of him, bringing him pieces of his past that had been buried deep within his conscience up till then.

Vergil held back a sigh of displeasure. The presence of his old home made quite evident the nature of the trial that his mind would force him to face once again. It was ironic how, despite the scarce variety of topics of his past recurrent dreams, his imagination had always managed to honor him with different versions of his mother's death that were never the same, ensuring that way a surprise factor that had never allowed him to be entirely prepared for when the pain came.

In fact, he didn’t recall a previous nightmare in which the scenery was shattered like a mirror. However, the fact that the real world concealed under such an illusion seemed to be the Qliphoth itself could mean that he had perhaps reached a too quick conclusion, and that he would be waking up soon, with the memory of his mother fated to fall into oblivion once again.

He was turning his face to his left with the intention of better examining those fake surroundings when he felt two different presences behind him. The first muttered something to himself he didn’t catch, but when the second talked, there was no mistake about who he was.

“Vergil…!”

When Dante called his name, Vergil continued turning around, frowning in light confusion. His eyes stopped first in his brother. Then, he shifted his attention to that boy (Nero was his name?) who had lost twice against him and whose arm he had needed to cut in order to recover Yamato. Eventually, he looked back at Dante.

The beaten-up state of his brother made him slowly remember what had happened, realizing he wasn’t dreaming in the least. They had fought. _He_ had been defeated. And then that boy had arrived carrying…

... _V_.

Vergil’s heart came to a momentary stop when that apparent innocent letter was drawn in his mind.

At that moment his eyes were dragged to the ground, as if something was calling him from there. That something turned out to be an old book, lying at his feet.

With his heart beating now at a faster rhythm than before, Vergil crouched to recover the book, and the moment he felt the familiar weight of the object in his right hand, he finally remembered.

He remembered everything.

In an instant, as if touching that book had been the catalyst, all the memories belonging to his human half began to flow inside him, interlacing with the ones already present in his head.

Now, he had the memory of being lying on the ground, defeated, seeing how V slowly approached; but he also remembered seeing him through V’s eyes, and the weakness the man was experiencing, the feeling of being in the brink of death and almost unable to walk on his own.

He remembered how during that entire month he had used demons to keep himself informed of what his unwanted half had been doing, in order to stop V from learning what his plan was about; and at the same time he remembered the contract he made with the ghosts of his past, and how he had contacted Nero in order to do precisely that.

He remembered going to visit Nero, and convincing him to join him in a journey to learn more about his schema, and fighting him when the boy was too stubborn to follow some basic instructions.

But that wasn’t all. There was much more. There were many more memories involving Nero, and as their number kept increasing, so did his inner stupor. Because he also remembered being saved by the boy; and risking his own life to protect him.

He remembered getting close to that boy. Closer than he had ever allowed himself to get to anyone.

He recalled caring about him; and _wanting_ him. 

And, also…

Vergil grabbed the book with such force that his knuckles turned white under the glove he was wearing. The new source of memories and emotions that assaulted him felt like a physical blow that made him freeze in place.

What was the meaning of all that?

All those feelings he was suddenly experiencing, where they did come from?

And why that boy, who he believed was a stranger a mere moment ago, felt like someone that he had come to…?

“Ya got some pretty big cojones for comin’ back. Just don’t know when to give up, do ya!?”

Vergil had never felt so grateful to Dante like at that time, when the man broke the nerve-wrecking tension that had settled between them and attacked him with all he had. Because _that_ was something familiar.

Dante disagreeing with him and fighting him was how things were supposed to be. It was something he could perfectly deal with.

The flood of information that he had just received, and that had made him feel like drowning, was not.

It was something unexpected, unwanted. Illogical. And he had to assimilate it. With calm, and alone.

He didn't have the least difficulty in pushing Dante back. The way his brother returned the scabbard of his sword back to him was a decent move, but Dante’s heavy movements were loud hints of the man’s tired state, something that became more evident when he didn’t need to use too much strength to keep Dante’s sword at bay.

“Defeating you like this has no meaning.”

“C’mon, Vergil. Let 's do this!”

Vergil noticed that Dante’s need to defeat him was stronger than usual, as if he had been waiting for a long time for this moment to happen.

“Heal your wounds, Dante. Get strong,” he said without giving up to the temptation of fulfilling his brother’s petition despite how sweet that distraction sounded. “After that, we’ll settle the matter.”

He easily pushed Dante back for a second time, though this time his brother seemed to catch the message because he stayed there, recovering his breath. 

Vergil made sure to keep looking at Dante, and _just_ at Dante, before turning around to slice a portal open. He returned his sword to its scabbard, started to enter the portal, and although he initially planned to take his leave without saying another word, he found himself stopping.

For the time being, he preferred to avoid any kind of contact with Nero, until assessing the damage his human half had done within him when going astray, but in the light of the last events, there was something that, at the very least, he felt he owed the boy to say.

* * *

“Thank you, Nero.”

The last barely registered the words that Vergil had pronounced before leaving. He had been at a loss of what to do since the moment that man had appeared out of nowhere, making Urizen and V vanish as if they hadn’t been there in the first place. And although he couldn’t care less about the whereabouts of the first, he was fucking worried about the invoker despite his attempts of convincing himself that V was okay.

He had done everything that V had asked him. He had brought him to Urizen, and the invoker had promised him he would understand everything when that happened. So that was one of two things - either V had overestimated his intelligence and he was failing to see something obvious, or there was something V had ‘forgotten’ to mention.

It didn’t take Nero much to deduce which option to pick.

“If that’s your brother,” he began talking while approaching Dante, “what happened to V?”

“He returned...to himself.”

Nero stared at Dante wide-eyed.

What the fuck did Dante mean with that? Wasn’t V himself already? And why the hell it was him the only one who seemed to be at a fucking loss?

He was looking back at the place where that portal had been before, as if doing that would help him understand, when Dante continued speaking.

“Go home, Nero. This doesn’t concern you.”

Dante was lucky for having been walking or he would have smacked the man in the damn head in case of being closer. Damn it, of course it concerned him! V had been standing there mere minutes ago and now he was _gone_ , because it seemed that Dante’s brother hadn’t had enough with leaving him half-dead, or having been about to destroy the damn world, but also had taken what remained of V’s power for him.

Shit, he didn’t fucking care about the ties Dante could have with that bastard. He planned to get some answers and bring V back no matter the cost.

“Like hell! I lost my right arm because of him!”

That was just the first argument he planned to give the old man, but Dante interrupted him, not letting him say more.

“This is not your fight. I need to stop him, and that’s all that matters.”

“I’m not letting you have all the fun, Dante!”

The way Dante brusquely stopped to face him told Nero he wasn’t the only one about to lose his temper.

“You don’t get it!”

He snorted.

“Lemme guess, I’m deadweight?” Part of Nero wanted Dante to _dare_ call him that again, because God knew how damn much he needed an excuse to discharge all that pent-up frustration. “You can shove that—”

“That’s not it, Nero.”

“What is it, then!?”

“He’s your father!”

Among all the answers he was expecting to receive from Dante, _that_ hadn’t been in the list.

For a moment Nero thought he had heard the old man wrong, which was the reason why a nervous half-laugh almost escaped him when he muttered an incredulous ‘ _What!?_ ’.

He waited for Dante to tell him it was a joke. The tone of the conversation couldn’t be less fucking suitable for that, but it was Dante after all. There was still a tiny chance that the man had the timing in his ass, and that he had somehow thought it was a good idea to blurt out that nonsense to reduce the tension a little.

But when a few seconds passed and Dante just kept looking at him with an apologetic expression, Nero realized the old man was being serious; and such discovery made him feel his chest so tight that his next breaths came out stuttered, the air suddenly lacking.

Dante was still talking, but Nero missed almost all the words the man pronounced next. He was busy trying to get his shit together. It was already shocking enough to meet his father in such a way, but that wasn’t the main reason why his world was crashing down. No, the thing that was making his control hang from a thread was that, finally, he understood a lot of the things V had said back then.

_“You still blame yourself for what happened?”_

_“Well, it is a fact that my incapacity of finding the source of Urizen’s power caused this. So yes, I still do.”_

_“I told you already, V. You weren’t the one in commanding those demons to attack: Urizen was.”_

_“You only say that because you don’t know what I’ve done.”_

Now he understood why V blamed himself for Urizen’s actions. Since back in the journey, V had been giving him accidental hints of his identity, but he hadn’t realized it.

“ _I allowed it to happen…is all because of me...if I had been stronger then, if my will had not been so feeble, everything could have been avoided._ ”

He had been blind.

“ _I just say that no one can know what the future brings. The only certainty we have is the present._ ”

He had been _fucking_ blind not to see who V was.

“ _There is no demon named Urizen... Only a man who threw away his humanity, in an endless pursuit of power. He is Dante’s older brother._ ”

That was why V had such an urgency in coming back to Urizen. That was why he had been coming apart. That was what Dante meant when saying that V had come back to himself. And that meant that the person he had fallen in love with was none other than...

“My father…?”

Dante had already left by then, but Nero hadn’t noticed the man’s absence. Because for each mystery about V that had been solved, another two had raised. Like a fucking hydra that didn’t get tired of bringing up questions.

What the fuck had been V thinking all this time? Had V been aware of everything from the start? All this time, had V known that he was his _son_? Nero hadn’t had that impression, but you could never know with V. And about his relationship with V, shit, how the hell was he supposed to feel about it?

Realizing that he was on the verge of having an anxiety attack, Nero shut his eyes closed and forced himself to take deep breaths while walking, shaking his hands at either side of his body while trying to keep it under control.

Fuck, he had to calm down. He had to keep his head cool. He had to remember the training he had undergone as a Knight. 

He couldn’t let the panic win. He shouldn’t let his anger win…

... _Fuck it_. It was **NOT** working.

Damnit, how the HELL was he supposed to _calm down_!? Five minutes ago, he didn’t even know who his father was, and now it turned out that his fucking boyfriend had been part of his old man all that time and now he had come back inside him. And okay, expressing it _like that_ made everything being even weirder and was NOT helping!

Just when Nero was really tempted to find a group of demons to burn off his excess of adrenaline and stress, everything went to shit. His surroundings began to tremble, the ground started to shake, and Nero had abandoned the place when the surface under his feet began to collapse.

Despite the situation, Nero found relieving to spend the next minutes simply focusing on not falling into the void. He chose the path to follow by trusting his instincts, which turned out to be right when in one of his last turns he heard Nico shouting at him from behind.

“Nero, jump in!”

The van passed him by his left at full speed. Seconds later the door opened and Trish appeared from it, extending her arm towards him. He had to give a final sprint to take her hand. She pulled him inside with surprising strength, causing him to fall onto the floor together with Trish and Lady, who had also approached in case it was necessary to help the blond woman.

“Where’s Dante?” he snapped the moment he entered, not sparing a second to thank the women for their help.

“He’s got this. We gotta go, now!”

Trish’s tone sounded reassuring despite the urgency that dripped from it, which made Nero remember his last conversation with the woman, when she seemed to know too much about V.

“So this guy, Vergil, you know him?”

“Vaguely, yes.”

The van shook at that moment and everyone but Nico was about to lose balance. They quickly closed the door of the vehicle when Nero was about to fall from it, and the moment he was safe inside, he came back to interrogate Trish.

“Dante said that guy’s my father...what the hell’s going on, Trish!?”

“His logic is sound. I had a hunch myself.”

Nero clenched his jaw. As stupid as it was, part of him had still expected that maybe Dante was wrong, but with Trish confirming it, that last hope had just vanished.

“This doesn’t make any SENSE!”

He elbowed the crystal behind him in frustration, and the fact that Nico didn’t protest for ‘mistreating’ the vehicle just made him feel worse.

“I know you hate Vergil, but you can’t kill your own father.”

“It’s true. You’d never recover from that.”

Nero frowned when hearing Trish and Lady. Who the hell had said anything about hating or killing anyone?

He didn’t know how to feel yet, but he was pretty sure he didn’t hate Vergil. And definitely he didn't want to kill him. He just...Damn, he only wanted to understand what was happening, and where the hell they stood now.

He wanted to know what had happened to the V he knew...No, he already knew that; he wanted to know what had happened to what V had felt towards him. What V said about loving him, was it still true? Were his feelings still there, inside Vergil? According to V, those feelings should have lived on, but the invoker himself had warned him about Vergil refusing to admit them.

Had V been telling the truth? All what happened between them, did it still mean something? Or had Vergil casted it aside? What if everything they had lived together was now lost, or if Vergil loved him but in a different way? Would Nero be able to do that? Would he be able to learn to love Vergil as a... father? God, it sounded _so weird_.

And fuck, what if he was just being stupidly optimistic? Because if Vergil still felt something towards him, for sure the man was a fucking master at pretending that he gave a crap about him.

What if V had been wrong the entire time and Vergil felt nothing towards him? He had abandoned him when he was a kid, right? So why should he care about him now? But then that meant that V hadn’t known about their blood relation? Or he had known and had still chosen to be together and keep the secret in case Nero wasn’t okay with it?

Fuck, everything was a mess even bigger than when Urizen was around. There were so many questions rounding his head that Nero felt as if it was about to explode, and the only one who could answer them was Vergil, the man who Dante planned to kill, so he _couldn’t_ allow that.

“You saved us, you should be proud,” Lady continued. “Now you can put all this behind you—”

He brushed Lady aside without thinking, starting to shout towards Nico

“Nico, stop the car!”

“No chance! After all this, are you insane!?”

Trish got in his way while Nico shouted back at him in an equally hysterical tone. The woman pushed him backwards, staying in his way with a serious expression that told him she wasn’t letting him go anywhere.

So, he did the only thing he could do at that moment.

“Fine. I’ll go by myself!”

Nero jumped out of the moving car. He heard Lady calling his name when he did so, and for sure Nico was insulting him and trashing him for leaving like that, but he didn’t care.

He simply ran in the opposite direction, determined to get the answer to all those questions, and to stop his dumbass relatives before they did something that everyone would end regretting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope having made justice to Nero's discovery about Vergil's identity and also to Vergil's appearance, since I think they are two story points that we all (yep, me included xD) were waiting for <3 
> 
> I know I haven't covered the whole mission 18, but I thought it was better to leave the chapter at this point and save Dante's fight with the familiars for the next one, since mission 19 simply covers Dante/Vergil fight and in case of completely respecting the events, these two chapters would be too unbalanced in content.
> 
> Stay tuned for more shocked Vergil in the next chapter, since for now he doesn't know who Nero is, poor man xDD


	19. Mission 19

**_June 15 - 3:15 p.m._ **

The sights that Vergil had at his feet were quite outstanding, and way more impressive than the ones he once was able to appreciate from the top of Temen-ni-gru. There was a common point in both situations though, which was the distant presence of his brother getting closer and closer.

It was curious. Several years had passed since their last proper encounter, but the thrill for the prospect of fighting Dante had remained the same. It was as strong as it had been in the past, and based on the desperation Dante had displayed when crossing swords before, it seemed his brother shared such sentiment. They could be different in every other aspect, but competing to death was an addictive entertainment that they would share as long as one of them was still standing.

“That day, if our positions were switched...Would our fates be different?” Vergil thought aloud without realizing. “Would I have your life, and you mine?”

He grabbed his sword with both hands and created himself a seat with the power that he still had from the Qliphoth. He sat down, his gaze lost in the distance.

“Let’s settle this...Dante.”

If his estimations were correct and given how eager his brother had looked to confront him, it shouldn’t take Dante more than an hour to reach that place.

In another time, waiting would have posed no problem for Vergil. As far as he could remember, he had always enjoyed quietude, even as a child. Growing up with Dante for sure had influenced such taste, since his brother had been noisy to the point of being annoying. The same way, even if circumstances may have its part of blame in his will to do everything on his own, he had ended having the last word in following such a philosophy of life.

Of course, choosing such a path had required an adaptation period. When he was still discovering how cruel the world could be for a half-demon child carrying the cursed blood of Sparda, he had often wished to have someone by his side. Also, despite the number of times that Dante had got on his nerves, and despite the resentment he felt then towards his brother when believing that their mother chose to only save him, Vergil had still missed Dante more than he would ever admit.

It had been hard, but at the end he learned to let all those needs go, and not to depend on anyone. He may have had his moments of weakness. He may have needed to quieten the doubts and thoughts that assaulted him on occasions with good wine, bloody battles and fleeting companies, but the conclusion was always the same: solitude suited him just fine. It would be the only friend Vergil would allow by his side, knowing it would never disappoint him.

For that reason, being alone while waiting for Dante shouldn’t have been a problem. Quietness shouldn't have been an issue. But at that moment, the silence surrounding him wasn't as welcome as usual, since it left him alone with thoughts he would have preferred to avoid.

He had tried to focus on the upcoming battle ahead, and to convince himself that he needed to devote some time thinking about a strategy, even if he had never needed one when fighting Dante. It was just a pathetic attempt to keep his mind busy, and as such, it was fated to fail. Because thinking about the imminent confrontation led him to think about Dante; which at the same time aroused more memories involving V and his brother; which, ultimately, brought him to the topic that he didn’t want to face, but that he knew he couldn’t ignore anymore:

 _Nero_.

Vergil clicked his tongue with annoyance, leaning back against the root that conformed the back of his seat. If he wasn’t feeling so angry with himself, he would appreciate the irony in the fact that his weakest half was the culprit of giving him the worst trouble, turning everything upside-down in a completely unpredictable way.

Of course, he had expected that his human nature was stubborn enough not to give up and wait to die after being discarded. The same way, he wasn’t surprised when V tried to come up with some sort of plan to come back to him, as it had ended up happening. Those events had entered Vergil’s estimations. They were outcomes that were within the realm of possibility, and Vergil had made sure to take measures to prevent them.

What he could have _never_ foreseen was that, while he was focused on acquiring the ultimate power, his human half would have the nerve of falling in love, dragging him towards a path he had always wanted blocked for him.

His grip on Yamato tightened. Part of him was tempted to stab himself for a second time to bring V in front of him. He wanted to make him pay for all those feelings that he had never wanted to begin with, but that were now inside of him, like a poison that had spread and couldn’t be cured.

Vergil closed his eyes and rubbed his temple with his right hand as the memories of his human half came back to him, running free and without control. If V had just fooled around with Nero, he wouldn’t have minded. There wouldn’t have been the least problem if he had used the boy as a momentary relief of his lust. He wasn’t blind after all. He was able to appreciate Nero’s physique, and he understood why V had felt attracted to him. He had always had a soft spot for unruly partners after all. Taming them in bed was infinitely more satisfying than sleeping with those who were too submissive. That was an irrefutable fact.

However, Nero had _not_ been a mere distraction. What V had done, what _he_ had done, was falling into what he had been trying to avoid since he chose to accept his demonic part over his human one.

After his mother’s death, Vergil had discovered that bonds came with a responsibility that not everyone was able to take. Even the power of the almighty Sparda, the Legendary Dark Knight, had been insufficient to protect his wife and sons. Therefore, until he was powerful enough, even more than his father ever was, Vergil swore himself not to make the same mistake Sparda committed.

If you were too weak to protect what you loved, at least you had to be strong enough to forsake it.

So, he refused to acknowledge any feelings that were not strictly necessary to achieve such a purpose, and love was the first one which should be avoided. That was the code Vergil had tried to live up to, and as part of him, and with the memory of his downfall so recent, V had agreed. At first, at least.

But then, the unexpected happened. Nero appeared. And all those boundaries and walls that Vergil had fought so much to keep were lowered. By himself. _Willingly_. Somehow, Nero had managed to shatter his resolve, and convince V, whose power couldn’t be more lacking, that digging up those feelings was a risk worth taking.

Each day that they had spent travelling, Nero had kept getting closer, carving himself a place in V’s heart that could not be occupied by anyone else, and Vergil remembered every piece of it, every emotion associated with it.

He remembered how he had passed from merely wanting to use that boy’s strength to feel curious about him; he remembered how he came to care about what could happen to Nero when the last kept worrying about him; he remembered clear as a day the exact [moment](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19270597/chapters/49354586) in which denying the feelings harboring inside him became an impossible task.

_“What do you plan to do? After we defeat Urizen, I mean.”_

_“Why do you ask?”_

_“I was just thinking that we actually work well together, and that maybe, if you don’t have other plans, we could keep doing it. You could even stay.”_

_“Stay?”_

_“Yes. With me.”_

He remembered the disgusting sensation when he realized that Nero belonged to someone else. The boy’s former fiancée had been fortunate to deal with his more merciful human side, since in case of being complete then, for sure he’d have been way less kind to that woman who appeared out of nowhere to drag Nero into her embrace.

He remembered the relief when realizing that Nero still cared about him, the frustration and impotence when Nero left and he thought he wasn’t going to come back, and the tentative happiness he experienced when Nero chose him over Kyrie, confessed his feelings, and swore to stay by his side no matter what was waiting ahead.

Vergil took a deep breath and opened his eyes, his eyebrows lightly furrowed in concentration. It had been a while since the last time he underwent such a complicated internal debate about how to proceed.

As someone who always rejected what could bring him pain, he was tempted to disappear after his matter with Dante was solved, while hoping that those emotions invading him did the same, with time. However, even if he still felt reluctant to accept everything V had done, there was a part of him that had doubts, and that wondered if he should listen to all those memories echoing in his mind that encouraged him to trust Nero.

Wanting it or not, it was a fact that V had allowed Nero inside, and not _just_ emotionally. He still found it difficult and embarrassing to recall the absolute lack of self-control V had shown around Nero, how easily he had managed to open around the boy, revealing a vulnerability that he would have never allowed himself to show. He remembered how it was to hold Nero, how it was to _be held_ by him, and how right doing that had felt.

Until meeting Nero, the mere idea of showing such a level of trust with someone had horrified him. But if his human half had decided that that boy deserved it, it meant there was a sound motive for it.

_“I just wanted to tell you that whoever you truly are, whatever you are, I don’t care. I don’t mind if you’re human, demon, or none of that; if you are two days old or if you are so old that you could be my father: I don’t give a shit about any of it. Because as long as you keep being you, I’ll fight alongside you, and I’ll stand by you.”_

Nero had looked confident when making that promise, and sincere. So, perhaps it was time for another change. After all, if he had managed to calm down that insatiable need of power that he was feeling as Urizen, perhaps he could also allow himself to deposit his trust in that boy that had been there for V no matter what he asked.

Perhaps, after all that time, it was finally safe to free his true feelings from the cage where he had always kept them.

In an act of reflex, Vergil lifted his right hand, but he stopped just before completing the action. He snorted softly for the stupidity of the gesture. It was obvious that neither of his former familiars was going to appear anymore. They had fulfilled their purpose already, and with his power fully recovered, there didn’t exist any motive for his familiars to come back to him.

Still, just when Vergil was going to lower his hand to rest it over Yamato, his fingers snapped on their own, as a remnant of the gesture that V had done during the past month and a half so many times during battles, or when he was lost and needed some advice.

This time though, as Vergil had already assumed, no one answered his call. And for the second time that day, the silence that surrounded him was far from feeling pleasant.

* * *

**_3:53 p.m._ **

Dante exhaled a relieved sigh when, after several minutes of continuous fight, he _finally_ managed to defeat his brother’s pets.

Definitely Vergil knew how to pick his pals. He had run into his familiars several times while trying to reach Vergil, alone and in group, and all those encounters could be S-rated for how complicated they had been, especially the last when the three of them teamed up against him. Despite all the bravado and provocations that he had interchanged with that annoying bird, he had feared for his well-being on several occasions when the chicken and the giant cat had managed to drive him into a corner. But eventually (and perhaps this time with a little luck, he had to admit it), he managed to get the upper hand.

It had been a great fight, and part of him couldn’t help to feel bad when seeing those guys drop onto the ground, one after one. Maybe he was overestimating his charm, but Dante had the feeling that with a little more time, he could have gotten along with them. Well, at least, with the big rocky guy and the cat. The chicken would have probably ended in the oven for running his mouth even more than him.

“Should’a known better,” Dante focused on the bird when this one’s forces failed him and ended in the ground together with his vanishing companions. “You got a good heart, but you’re about as sharp as marble.”

“Perhaps…” The bird’s voice was very weak, indicating his death was close. “But if you had even a little bit of trouble defeating us, imagine what Vergil can do to you.”

Dante snorted softly, admiring the bird’s capacity of back talking no matter the situation.

“Go see for yourself. Us? This is our final flight…And the end of Vergil’s nightmares.”

Dante crouched on the ground in front of the bird, leaning his left hand on his knee. He hadn’t had the chance of watching his brother interacting with his familiars too much, but given the effort that they had put into stopping him from reaching Vergil, it was evident that they had really cared about him. He hoped that his brother was aware of it.

“Rest in peace, little chicken,” he said in a grateful tone when seeing that the bird was starting to disappear. “It’s been a bash.”

He didn’t stand up until the familiar fully disappeared, as a mark of respect. He then resumed his way, reducing the speed he had been using until then in order to save his remaining energy and strength. He needed to be at his best if he wanted to have a chance against Vergil after all.

It didn’t matter how many years he had spent fighting, he could feel his body entering that tense state as every time that an important battle was ahead. And in this case, the identity of his opponent only potentiated that reaction.

Part of him still couldn’t believe he was gonna face Vergil again. When seeing him standing in Urizen’s place, he didn’t know which feeling had won: relief or anger. Probably the second. After all he had thought that Vergil was gone for real. All the leads had pointed that his comeback was impossible, but he should have known better. His brother was a sucker of complicating everything, so he wasn’t gonna resist making a flashy apparition to leave everyone speechless.

Also, he should have realized that V was hiding something. The guy had done a great job hiding his true goal, and based on Nero’s reaction, it seemed that he hadn’t been the only one left in the dark about what he really planned to do.

Dante sighed and scratched the back of his head. He wasn’t very satisfied with how he had revealed Vergil’s identity to the kid. Maybe he could have thought before talking for once, instead of throwing that intel at Nero’s face in the heat of the moment. And man, what a face Nero had made. The boy had looked as if his world was collapsing, and no wonder. It couldn’t be easy to discover that the guy you’d been dicking was your father.

However, sometimes ripping off the band aid was the best approach, and at least he had made his best to explain to Nero why he should stand back. He didn’t know about Vergil’s intentions yet. Maybe coming back to his old self had allowed his brother to mature and decide that he wasn’t interested in playing the role of evil villain anymore, but maybe his domination plans hadn’t changed.

So, he couldn’t take the risk. Killing Vergil wasn’t out of the table yet, and Nero’s romantic life had turned chaotic enough already to add the murder of a lover/father to it. Doing that could break him, and Dante wasn’t going to allow that. Nero was his nephew after all, and the family was supposed to take care of each other. And yeah, he was aware that the Sparda family wasn't precisely normal with all those incestuous feelings flying around, but whatever: he wasn’t going to let the kid bear that weight.

Ten minutes later Dante reached the top of the Qliphoth. He stopped when seeing the throne Vergil had built, and continued walking after taking a deep breath. He hoped that doing that would convince his heartbeat to be a good boy and behave, although he wasn’t surprised when it didn’t work.

“Hey Vergil, your portal-opening days are over,” he extended his left arm toward his brother, even if this one was giving his back to him. “Give me the Yamato.”

Vergil’s answer was immediate.

“If you want it, you’ll have to take it.” Vergil got off his seat and turned around while his throne disintegrated. “But you already knew that.”

After giving it some thought, _that_ was the only peaceful solution to guarantee that Vergil wouldn’t fall into the temptation of turning into Urizen again, so Dante tried to go for it even if he had already expected that Vergil rejected it. In fact, he would have been very disappointed if his brother had just accepted without putting up a fight. It wouldn't’ be like him.

“I had a feeling you’d say that…”

He summoned his sword while Vergil observed him, not making any attempt of drawing his yet.

“How many times have we fought?”

Dante rested his sword on his shoulders and shook his head slightly, thinking about the answer.

“Hard to say. It’s the only memory I have of us since we were kids.”

Dante sustained Vergil’s gaze, but by then he had long exceeded the limit of keeping a serious appearance and found himself smirking in anticipation. Because damn, _that_ was the thrill he had been seeking without success during all those years in each confrontation.

The only opponent who was very close to making him feel as alive as he felt then was Nero, when they crossed swords years ago in Fortuna. That had been the only exception. Any other enemy that Dante had faced paled in comparison, no matter how strong they could have been, and unless he was reading something wrong in Vergil’s intense grey eyes, it seemed the sentiment was mutual.

Damn, he had to get a hold of himself. Having a boner wasn’t something uncommon to experience in the heat of the battle. He had lost count of how many times his sparring with Trish had led them to test the springs of his bed to the limit, _but_ in his current situation it would be a little more inappropriate. So, he made sure to put an end to the gazing contest by taking a couple of steps towards his brother, deciding to cut to the chase asap before his body decided to betray him.

“Time to finish this, Vergil! Once and for all.”

Vergil’s reply consisted of looking at him with a superior smile before unsheathing Yamato with a fluid movement of his thumb.

“I won’t lose to the likes of you...little brother.”

As every time he and Vergil crossed swords, during the next minutes Dante couldn’t focus on anything that wasn’t his brother. Age had done Vergil good. He had lost none of his elegant fluency when fighting, neither strength nor lethality. Also, the fact that most part of Vergil’s attacks were familiar didn’t put him in advantage, since Vergil made sure to make different combinations so that it was practically impossible to guess what was coming next.

Dante had gone to Vergil with a clear goal: preventing this one from carrying out Urizen’s plan of conquering the world. He knew that instead of getting into that fight he should have asked Vergil about his motives, but screw it, he didn’t want to stop now. He was having too much fun. After two decades, he was finally having the rematch he thought he’d never had with Vergil, and it was surpassing his expectations by far.

He had almost forgotten the feeling of being unable to stop for even one second because it could give Vergil an opening, the need of never losing sight of Vergil for the risk of missing what his next move was going to be, and the taunted ‘ _Too slow_ ’s that Vergil threw in his direction in that condescending, mocking voice when he was unable to land a successful blow or avoid an attack, and which settled his blood aflame.

Damn, he had missed this.

He had missed fighting without having the utter confidence that he was gonna win.

He had missed Vergil.

And with all that pent-up energy finally unleashed and the adrenaline rushing through his veins, it was a matter of time that Dante got too carried away.

“You cut off your own son's arm for THIS!?”

He threw that comeback without thinking, in the spur of the moment.

And when seeing the way Vergil stopped mid attack, frozen in place and showing an expression that was very similar to the one Nero had displayed before, Dante realized that, again, he should have _really_ thought twice before talking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Definitely Dante has to improve his skill of delivering important news ^^U
> 
> On a sadder note, I'm really gonna miss writing the familiars >.< And the ones who may feel I haven't made them justice because their death was as brief as in the game, don't worry because I have something in mind for a later chapter <3
> 
> Just ONE chapter left for the canon ending of the game!! So stay tuned for _more_ shocked Vergil and the happy father/son reunion xDD


	20. Mission 20

**_June 15 - 4:25 p.m._ **

If Nero was the religious type, he would have thanked the Savior itself when, after more than an hour of restless running, he managed to land on a section of the Qliphoth that wasn’t collapsing.

His lungs were burning, and he heard the rhythmic thumping of his accelerated pulse in his ears, but he ignored both annoying sensations and raised his head. He was determined to keep going and not to stop until he reached his destination, but the vision of a telephone booth some meters ahead destroyed such plans.

Nero observed the booth for several seconds, not sure if he should listen to what his gut was telling him to do. At the end he decided he had nothing to lose, so he approached the phone to mark the other number he had memorized besides the one belonging to Nico’s van.

He was hoping to have some time to put his thoughts in order before his call was taken, but Kyrie’s voice sounded after two tones.

“ _Hello?_ ”

Nero let out a deep breath. He tried to say something, anything, but nothing came to him. Shit, calling Kyrie had been a bad idea. Why the hell had he done it? He didn’t even know what he wanted to tell her to begin with. It had just been a stupid urge, so he got ready to hang up before saying something that could betray him.

He was too slow.

“ _Nero? Is that you, Nero? Did something happen?_ ”

Nero suppressed a gulp. The time they spent together had turned Kyrie into an expert to recognize his silences, allowing her to deduce when something was wrong. He felt a wave of affection towards that woman who kept caring about him despite the pain he had caused her.

“Kyrie…When I was a kid, I... I was alone. You and Credo were all I knew. And now all of a sudden, I found out I have a family. What am I supposed to do with that?”

He was just touching the surface of the problem. No, he was being too generous. He hadn’t even scratched what truly worried him. Kyrie had to be super confused right now, not understanding what he was talking about, but he had noticed too late that it was impossible to explain everything that had happened within the last hours.

Now he understood why V had struggled so much with words before. Back then he had believed that V was just using the usual excuses, but he wasn’t. He had been right when saying everything was complicated. There was no easy way to tell her Kyrie the man he had left her for was his father, and that Dante believed that killing him was the only way to put an end to the mess happening around.

Also, no matter how resolved Nero was to put an end to the twins’ fight, he had learnt the hard way that strong will wasn’t enough to succeed. In his previous confrontations against Urizen, he had really thought he could win, and he was defeated every time. What if the same happened now? What if he couldn’t prevent Dante from killing Vergil?

Nero didn’t want that. He may still be assimilating the fact that V had been his father all along, and he may not know very well how to feel about that yet, but he knew that he would only discover it by talking to Vergil, and by learning how this one felt. He wanted Vergil to live. He wanted everyone to live. But what if, at the end, Dante had been right all along, and he was just a dead weight who couldn’t save anyone?

He was about to express all those fears aloud, but Kyrie talking again stopped him from doing so.

“ _You always know which path is right, and which is wrong. There’s no need to doubt yourself._ ”

There was no hesitation in Kyrie’s words despite the sweetness of her tone. It was impossible that she knew what he was talking about, but she had always been able to differentiate when he was asking for advice and when he was seeking reassurance. Up till that moment Nero had thought that he needed the first, but when Kyrie’s encouragement managed to placate his anxious thoughts, he realized it had been the second.

After all those years, she still knew him better than he himself did sometimes. He guessed _that_ would never change, even if they weren’t together anymore.

That thought made Nero recall how annoyed V got whenever he mentioned Kyrie. Despite his calm demeanor, V had been a possessive bastard, and for sure he wouldn’t have liked the idea of Kyrie knowing him to such extent.

Nero wondered if Vergil still felt the same way, if he still thought that Nero should only belong to him, or if on the contrary his existence meant nothing to him now. That last option made his chest feel tight, but even if part of him was afraid of discovering the truth, he had never been the kind of man who ran away from the things that scared him. He was more like the idiot who rushed forward with even more energy to try to defeat that fear, and if there was a time to use that brainless strategy again, it was then.

“Thanks…I guess that’s all I needed to hear.” He looked behind him, to the top of the Qliphoth where Vergil and Dante’s presences had intensified. “I have one last thing to take care of...Then I’m coming home.”

It wasn’t the first time he told Kyrie something along those lines when he was about to finish a job. However, for the first time, that ‘home’ he had mentioned wasn’t Fortuna anymore.

“ _I planned to move to Red Grave...My plan was to crash at Devil May Cry until finding a place to stay, or until having enough cash to rent one...And about Julio, Kyle, Carlo and Kyrie, of course I want to keep in touch. They are my family after all. But although Fortuna will always be my hometown, if I ever live with someone, I hope it is with you._ ”

That was what he told V during their journey, after the invoker asked him what he was gonna do when finishing their mission. He wasn’t sure if such a plan kept being valid, because he didn’t know how his discovered kinship with Vergil would affect it. However, he didn’t plan to discard it yet, not until talking to Vergil.

“I couldn’t protect Credo.” He began to follow the path towards the top, each step firmer than the previous. “To this day, I hate myself for not having enough strength.”

He wasn’t going to give up. He had assured V that he wouldn’t, no matter how stubborn Vergil could be.

“But this time is different. I swear!”

And he planned to keep that promise. Everyone was going to live, including Vergil and Dante. He didn’t care how willing those idiots were to die, or how far their fight went back. Until he was satisfied, until he had _all_ the answers...

“I’M NOT LETTING YOU DIE!”

* * *

Despite the utter shock that Vergil was experiencing, he had no trouble in stopping Dante’s next attack in automatic mode. The force of the counteroffensive made him end on his knees while his brother was thrown against one of the few rocky columns of the place. In theory, Dante had borne the brunt of the clash, but he doubted that the impact Dante had suffered was bigger than the one his brother’s words had brought upon himself.

“Nero is my son?”

Vergil knew that the question couldn’t be more unnecessary, since ripping off arms wasn’t something he had done more than once to gather power, but there still existed a minimal possibility that he had misunderstood Dante. Of course, such expectation was crushed when Dante answered while being in the process of standing up.

“Yeah, dumbass. You can’t remember through that hard skull of yours?”

He did _not_ remember. Keeping track of his one-night stands wasn’t something he had ever done after all, but if Nero hadn’t lied about his age, the time of the boy’s conception must have happened around the time he was about to invoke Temen-ni-gru. So, perhaps the woman who had given birth to Nero was one of his conquests during his brief visit in Fortuna. That was the most plausible explanation.

Whoever that woman was though, Vergil didn’t care. Her identity was irrelevant to him, the same as the fact that Nero and he were related. Having a child had never entered his estimations, and although he would have probably done things differently in case he had known about Nero’s existence in the past, that was a life that he never had the opportunity to live, and now it was too late to do it.

Related by blood or not, his feelings for Nero were what they were, and after all the time it had taken him to admit them, they were not going to change. He wasn’t willing them to change, without mattering how reprehensible such a relationship would be to the eyes of narrow-minded people. The only thing that concerned him at the moment was if his brother’s revelation had reached Nero’s ears.

If it hadn’t, there was no reason to worry. It would just be a piece of information that he would make sure Dante took to the grave. But if Nero knew, then a considerable number of possibilities opened, most of them entering in conflict with the future Vergil had come to look forward to.

However, that wasn’t the time to worry about hypotheses. He first needed to finish the battle at hand, whose result seemed to be already signed on his behalf by basing on his brother’s labored breathing.

“Well, well… That was a long time ago.”

His dismissive answer made Dante laugh.

“I guess you were young once, too. As much as I’d love to hear that story, I think it’s about time we…”

“...ended this.”

After finishing his brother’s sentence Vergil flexed his legs slightly, getting ready to deliver his most powerful blow. His intention was to attack Dante post-haste, but when his brother entered his Devil Trigger form, he decided to honor him with the same courtesy.

They remained still during the following seconds, paying attention to each other’s movements in complete tension. As usual, Dante’s impatience won over his own, making his brother be the first one in lunging forward. Vergil followed immediately after, attacking with matching speed and energy.

In their unleashed forms, the strength of the attack would have caused an expansive wave resulting in the collapse of the platform they were standing on. So, as the distance between them reduced, Vergil started to spread his wings, getting ready to continue the combat above the ground.

Such preparation went to waste, since at that moment an unidentified beacon of light landed right in the middle of them and his movement was completely stopped by a strong, clawed hand pressing against his chest.

Vergil changed back into to his human form and frowned while observing the culprit of the interruption.

“This is...curious.” He eventually said, though it was a poor adjective to describe the magnificent specimen of a demon who was keeping Dante and him at bay with no apparent effort.

“Nero?”

Dante’s unsure calling made Vergil open his eyes more for a fleeting moment. His attention had been so drawn in admiring the creature that he noticed too late the familiarity of the aura shrouding him.

At that moment the demon pushed them both back with a characteristic, brusque movement that shattered all the elegance displayed in his landing, and which removed all doubts Vergil could have about the demon’s identity.

The harsh impact against the ground made Vergil groan before straightening his position.

“What form of power is this?”

“What the hell?”

Vergil was glad when Dante sounded as confused as he was feeling. It would be a real blow to his ego that Dante understood something that he didn’t. As far as he knew, Nero’s demonic heritage merely consisted of his former demonic arm. He wasn’t aware that Nero could trigger as well, not to mention that he shouldn’t be that powerful with just a quarter of demon blood in his veins.

At that moment Nero stopped crouching to raise to his height. He changed into his usual human form in the process, but a pair of spectral wings kept being visible.

“This ends, right here.”

Nero wasn’t looking at any of them when making that statement, which increased the demanding component of his words. Vergil continued scanning Nero, stopping in the human right arm that had appeared in the place his missing limb was.

Unlike Vergil, who was trying to understand what kind of power could have allowed such recovery in Nero, Dante spared no thought to it. The devil hunter stood up, tilted his head to the side as if he was suppressing the urge of snapping something, and began to approach Nero, his impatience palpable in his next words.

“Listen to me. I told you already, this is not your—”

On Dante’s defense, nothing in Nero’s body language gave any hints about the powerful punch his brother ended receiving, and which made him spit blood while returning to the ground, his sword now out of reach.

“You listen, dead weight,” Nero began addressing Dante but soon turned towards Vergil to continue speaking. “I won’t let you kill each other. There are other ways to settle your differences. I’m putting a stop to this sibling rivalry.”

While Nero talked, Vergil’s expression kept unchanged, not betraying at all the light nervousness he was experiencing inside. At least, for the time being nothing indicated that Nero was aware of his relation to either Dante or him, which was a good signal.

A surprised laugh escaped him. It seemed that his previous defeats against Urizen hadn’t discouraged the boy, making him cocky enough to believe he could stand a chance against him even though he never managed to beat V in the two occasions they fought.

“Ahh, you came all this way just for that.”

Nero sounded unusually serious when talking next.

“Vergil…V... whatever you call yourself… Dante’s not gonna die here, and neither are you. Do you have a problem with that?”

Perhaps cockiness wasn’t the feeling who was making Nero be so confident about his possibility of winning, but anger, which was quite understandable considering how many things V had kept from him.

“‘Not gonna die,’ my ass. That bitch slap nearly killed me.”

Neither him nor Nero averted their eyes from each other when Dante whined that from the ground.

“If I beat Nero,” Vergil rotated his sword in an accidental boasting gesture that caused Nero’s frown to accentuate even more, “then by default, I beat you. Agreed, Dante?”

He was expecting a protest coming from his brother, but to his surprise the man simply made a defeated gesture with his left hand.

“Whatever. I don’t really care. I’m just gonna sit this one out.”

Dante flopped backwards, clearly done with everything. Nero hadn’t moved an inch during that interchange, his blue eyes continuing scrutinizing Vergil’s face as if he wanted to read his thoughts. Vergil recovered his sword with his right hand, holding Nero’s intense gaze while waiting to start the battle that would help to kill two birds with one stone.

“When this is over...”

First, he would put an end to his unfinished fight with his brother, claiming his victory in a way that for sure would piss Dante off, given that his participation could not be less needed; and second, their confrontation would help to appease Nero’s anger for all the secrets V had kept. Once they did that, those feelings Nero had professed towards V would be again in the open.

“...I’ll make you submit…”

Also, Vergil felt quite curious about what the boy meant with those words. Because if Nero expected that he was so easy to manhandle as V had agreed to be sometimes, the boy would have quite a surprise. However, considering the powerful trigger form Nero had acquired, perhaps the boy was capable of dominating him. Vergil was surprised when the idea, preposterous until that day, made a pleasant heat settle down in his lower stomach.

“...Father.”

A heat that was replaced by a constricting tension when Nero spelled that word, in a tone that sounded mocking but also resentful.

The revelation of Nero knowing about their blood relation made him be slower to react than he usually was, allowing the boy to get the upper hand in the first attack. Vergil was forced to teleport to the side to avoid it, realizing he hadn’t time to counterattack with his sword.

Vergil clicked his tongue, annoyed for not having managed to deliver the first hit.

“This has nothing to do with you. Stand down.”

What he intended as a final warning sounded more like a threat, not to mention that his words, though accurate to express that Nero had intruded in his battle against Dante, didn’t seem to be the most appropriate to the situation, since they just made Nero angrier.

“Nothing to do with me!? It has everything to do with me!”

“Nero...”

The boy didn’t let him finish. For the second time, Vergil could only teleport to avoid Nero’s onslaught, which was faster than the previous one.

He couldn’t allow this to continue. There was a moment for everything, and right then he had to focus on the battle. The implications of Nero knowing about their kinship could wait for later. Worrying about them now was extremely counterproductive. After all, there was still the chance that Nero decided to pay no mind to it, and that the future V had wished and that had been passed to him, was not gone just yet.

“Did you know it?” Nero snapped. “Did you know I was your son?”

Vergil’s grip on his sword tightened at the question.

“Does it matter if I did?”

A snort escaped Nero.

“Of course it fucking does. I thought that my parents abandoned me because they felt there was something off with me. So stop with the cryptic bullshit, did you know it or not?”

Vergil didn’t answer immediately, evaluating his options. To some people the logical option would be answering with the truth, but indulging Nero’s curiosity in his current state perhaps wasn’t wise.

He observed Nero with attention: his dilated pupils, his accelerated breathing, his body practically vibrating with poorly managed adrenaline. Perhaps Nero’s initial intention when appearing there had been to prevent Dante and him from killing each other, and to get some answers from him, but now that they were face to face, the boy’s need of fighting him couldn’t be denied.

So, dragging out the conversation when Nero’s condition was so unstable wasn’t the best option. He knew well the power of words. He wouldn’t have been able to manipulate so many people during his life if he didn’t, and saying certain things without giving them the proper thinking (as his brother was _so_ prone to do) could be more harmful than the sharpest words.

If he wanted to learn the exact point where they both were standing now, without errors or misunderstandings, Nero had to calm down first. And ironically, the key to achieve that was a proper fight.

“If you want answers, you’ll have to show me what you can do first, boy.” Vergil adopted the same fighting stance than he used with Dante before. “Or perhaps that demonic form of yours is just for show?”

Nero reacted to his taunt as he had expected, by devil triggering with a loud ‘ _Fuck you!_ ’ that resonated around the place.

Unlike V and Nero’s previous encounters, that had always ended without major injuries, Vergil soon realized that, this time, he would need to harm Nero for real in order to emerge victorious, and the same as Nero, he did so with no hesitation.

The minutes that followed were quite frenetic. None of them had much time to catch their breaths, and much less to talk asides from letting out some occasional provocations.

“Take me seriously now?! You feeling accepting yet?”

“Of your existence? Or your strength?”

“Both, you fuckin’ asshole!”

Vergil would have liked to carry out the fight without needing to transform, in order to show Nero that he didn’t need to give his best to defeat him. However, when triggered Nero was able to cause a pretty heavy damage, so at the end he had to swallow his pride and switch to his devil form so that the fight was balanced.

As the fight dragged out, their fast capacity of recovery began to fall behind to propely heal all their wounds. At some point, both of their movements started to lose speed and strength, until eventually Nero managed to make Vergil crouch in one knee.

This time, Vergil couldn’t recover in time before Nero tackled him. Vergil huffed when the boy’s weight crashed against him, making him release Yamato. The boy grabbed both of his wrists with his spectral claws to pin them against the ground on either side of his head, using his human hands to grab the lapels of his coat. Vergil’s heart skipped a beat when Nero leaned over him and the boy’s labored breathing ghosted over his own, the images that such action brought to him not belonging precisely to the battlefield.

“As I said...take me seriously now?”

Nero’s voice sounded triumphant despite the tiredness, and less angry, as if he had calmed down after all that blown off steam.

“Well, you certainly could have done it worse.”

The boy snorted at his concession before pointing at him with his chin.

“Then spit it out. _Now_.”

Vergil took a deep breath and shook his head.

“I wasn’t aware of the existence of any offspring until your uncle informed me about it, some minutes ago.”

Nero exhaled a long sigh and nodded, looking somehow relieved. The boy made the mistake of relaxing at that moment, allowing Vergil to easily reverse their positions so that he was the one caging Nero against the ground. He immobilized the boy’s spectral wrists as a payback, making sure to keep his thighs firmly pressed on either side of Nero’s body to limit his movement.

Still, the boy had the advantage of his two human hands grabbing his coat, but Nero seemed to have inherited part of Dante’s foolishness and didn’t notice that vital detail that could put him in advantage. The young devil hunter was merely staring up at him, eyes more opened and breath held.

“I have answered your question, so it’s your turn.” Vergil mimicked Nero’s previous action by lowering his face until it was inches apart from Nero. “What are you going to do now, knowing that the man you used to cherish is now part of your father?”

After bluntly expressing their new situation like that, Vergil had foreseen different outcomes, such as Nero babbling something in confusion, or Nero frowning and remaining silent while trying to come up with an answer, or Nero getting angry again and attacking, even triggering in order to set himself free.

Nero gripping his coat with more force and raising his face to kiss him hadn’t entered his estimations.

The contact of Nero’s lips against his own made Vergil’s heart stop for a moment. The kiss was simple but firm, and by no means it should have been enough to provoke such a shiver down his spine.

When Nero separated and rested the back of his head against the ground again, Vergil hadn’t moved yet. It took him a couple of seconds to wake up from his shock and take a proper look at Nero under him.

Doing so provoked his heart to skip a new beat. There was no trace of the previous anger or confusion that had bathed Nero’s expression before. The feeling shining in the boy’s eyes was clear, unmistakable, and seeing it in real life, without the veiled protection of his memories, was even more overwhelming.

At that moment, the whole surface where they were lying began to tremble, and they were forced to quickly separate in order to recover their weapons.

Vergil felt glad to put some distance between him and the warmth that the boy's presence provoked in him. He realized then that, during the whole fight, in an unconscious manner he had resigned himself to the idea of Nero being unable to accept him as he did with V.

But he had just been proved wrong, and suddenly, he didn’t know how to deal with it.

* * *

Nero cursed under his breath when Vergil pulled back to slice some rubbish that started to fall over them from the upper section of the tree.

“Interesting…” Vergil said after huffing, once he had pulverized a good portion of Qliphoth that had been about to crash against Dante.

The ruckus had managed to put Dante off his sleep, since the man snickered while starting to get up.

“Oh, brother. You cut off your son’s arm for more power, and you still lost.”

“Enough, dammit!” Nero snapped. He was still frustrated for the way his conversation with Vergil had been interrupted, but that trembling boded no good and they had to take care of that first. “The underworld is taking over, and we need to do something before it’s too late.”

A bigger tremor shook the whole place again.

“He’s right. We need to close that portal.” Still sitting, Dante recovered his sword and leaned it over his shoulder before looking at Vergil. “Hey, you lost, so you better do what he says.”

Nero also stared at Vergil as this one stood up with difficulty.

“I can still fight.” Nero frowned in confusion, not understanding why Vergil was talking as if their last conversation hadn’t even happened. “But if those roots continue to spread through town, it’ll just interfere with our business.”

Nero missed what Dante said next, since he was busy tensing when Vergil approached him just to pass by his side without sparing a glance in his direction, as if he wasn’t even there.

“Wait, where are you going?” He put himself as Vergil and Dante level, but his eyes dug on Vergil when this one answered.

“We need to sever the Qliphoth roots from the underworld itself. Then we’ll seal the portal with the Yamato.”

Nero’s stomach dropped at the answer, noticing the implications of what Vergil had said.

Before reaching the Qliphoth, he had been having doubts about how he should feel towards Vergil. However, knowing that Vergil hadn’t abandoned him and his later fight against the man had put an end to all of them.

Vergil could look different to V, and also fight differently, but the sensations that transpired when crossing blades, and the heat that had settled down in his body when the strength of Vergil’s legs was enough to keep him pressed against the ground, were the same. It didn’t matter who Vergil had happened to be, his feelings for him hadn’t changed, and he thought he had made it clear with the way he had decided to answer Vergil before.

But now, with the lack of emotion that Vergil’s tone had shown, maybe he had assumed too much, which made him sound more nervous than he already was at the prospect of Vergil leaving like that.

“Hang on, if you do that, you can’t come back.”

“Why do you think I’m goin’?” Dante sounded confident, but he _always_ sounded like that, so it didn’t make him feel any better. “Somebody’s gotta keep an eye on your old man.”

They tried to go again, leaving him behind, and once again Nero followed them.

“You can’t just expect me to stay here while you both go—”

Dante turned around and continued talking with a reassuring but definite tone that didn’t leave room for discussion.

“It’s because you’re here we can go. We’re trusting you with things on this side, capisce?”

“Make haste, Dante.”

The fact that Vergil addressed Dante while ignoring him did _really_ hurt.

Nero gritted his teeth, shook his head, and decided that he wasn’t going to let Vergil leave. Not when the possibilities of him coming back looked so fucking dim.

“Hey, wait!”

He didn’t see the combined punch coming.

Ignoring the numb pain of his face, Nero sat up with urgency. He only paid half attention to Dante’s amicable goodbye. He was focused on Vergil standing there, with an expression that was completely unreadable.

At that point, the fact that Vergil could hate him for that kiss was the last of his worries. He could figure out how to fix that later. Right now, he only wanted to convince Vergil to let him join them, and if he didn’t want that, he would still manage to follow him because like hell if he was gonna risk losing him.

Nero was considering the option of rapidly triggering to follow Dante before Vergil could stop him when the man reached inside his coat, extracting something that made Nero’s eyes open wide.

“I won’t lose next time.” Vergil observed the book for a moment in silence before looking at him again. “Hold on to that until then.”

Nero was so struck by Vergil’s unexpected words that by the time he reacted, Vergil had already thrown the book to the ground and had turned around to approach the border.

He stared at Vergil jump with elegance and trigger before beginning to fly down, following his brother. Nero stood up hastily and approached the border as well, but stopped when he was next to Vergil’s book to pick it up. He clenched his jaw, unable not to feel frustrated while looking over the top of the Qliphoth.

“Idiots...”

While observing the lightning bolts escaping the demonic portal at the bottom of the tree, part of Nero was tempted to jump as well, without caring about what those selfish assholes wanted. At the end, he took a deep breath and turned around to go back to that telephone booth to call Nico.

Dante was right. With him gone, now there was a devil hunter less to ensure the humankind’s safety, and as much as he hated to admit it, for sure those two would be fine on their own. He hoped they didn’t dare to kill each other in his absence though, or he would move heaven and earth to kick both of their asses again.

Also, he would have liked to leave everything solved between Vergil and him, but at least the man’s words had not been a farewell. Vergil had said there would be a next fight, and he had given him his book to keep in the meantime.

For sure Vergil would come back someday, and when that happened, Nero would be there, ready to prove Vergil that that conversation he had put on hold wasn’t over, and that he wasn’t gonna give up on finishing it while one of them was still breathing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Including romance between Nero and Vergil in the final mission was a pain in the ass, but at the end I managed somehow xD 
> 
> I can't believe we reached the end of the game already :') Of course father and son still need to talk, since Vergil has kind of run away there xDD But don't worry: after EVERYTHING they have gone through, everyone is gonna have their happy ending :P


	21. After the Qliphoth (I)

**_July 30 - 8:56 a.m._ **

Nero’s deep slumber was abruptly interrupted when his bed bounced once and a loud ‘ _Nero!!_ ’ resounded in the room, making him jump up. His brain was trying to catch up with his body, which had been faster to react and had returned the effusive hug that Julio gave him. The kid was still dressed in his pajama, so Nero deduced that he had been sleeping not long ago, even if it was hard to believe due to the energy emanating from him.

“Hey, Nero, guess what, guess what!” Julio sat back and started to pat his shoulder, unable to hold his enthusiasm in. “Remember that the stove made super weird noises and that sometimes it didn’t heat up!? I managed to fix all by myself while you were out, and Nico didn’t have to help me _at all_! Well, she lent me some of her tools but that’s all. I did all the work and now it’s fixed! Oh, and also—!”

As every time that Julio got over excited with something, his talking speed became even more insane, which caused Nero to have more difficulties than usual in following what he was saying.

He only managed to intercalate a couple of approving hums and an impressed ‘ _Great job!_ ’ between the kid’s continuous rambling before a new set of steps sounded in the corridor. Kyrie appeared at the door frame at that moment, carrying Carlo in her arms.

“Julio, please, be good and let Nero sleep more!” While Kyrie talked, the baby’s eyes, half-closed until then, opened wide when noticing Nero in the bed. “He arrived here very late last night and he needs to rest—”

Kyrie’s call for attention was interrupted when Carlo began to twist in her arms while protesting, clearly wanting to be set free. Kyrie exhaled a patient sigh and lowered Carlo to the floor, letting the almost two-years-old boy start walking towards the bed while giggling.

Nero let out a laugh and reached for Carlo when this one began to pat the border of the bed with impatience, wanting to climb it but not having the ability to do so on his own yet.

He didn’t realize that Kyrie had disappeared to prepare the children’s breakfast until the woman called them from downstairs. As usual, time flew when being around those kids, so it was half past nine when Julio abandoned the room carrying Carlo.

When the door closed behind Julio, Nero stretched his arms while still sitting on the bed. He also cracked his neck by tilting his head to either side before getting out of bed with the intention of taking a quick shower. He removed his tank-top while he was still in the bedroom, managing to score with the wrinkled clothing when he threw it towards the laundry bin. Once he finished removing his pants and underwear inside the bathroom, he snapped the shower tap open and entered the small cubicle without bothering to warm up the water, since it was already July and the house was _way_ too hot in summer. 

He passed a hand through his slightly longer hair and let his head fall a little backwards, closing his eyes while the cold water drenched him. As every time that he wasn’t busy with something, his mind came back to the topic that had been filling his thoughts almost 24/7 during the past weeks.

It had been a month and a half since Vergil and Dante disappeared in the Underworld, and none of them had come back yet.

Nero exhaled a long sigh. Against what people used to think of him, he wasn’t an impatient man. Yeah, he may get worked up in battles, and when he was younger he had got in trouble several times while being in the Order for not waiting for reinforcements when he should. However, leaving _everything_ related to fighting aside, he considered himself a rather patient person.

As cliché as it sounded, he had never protested whenever Kyrie dragged him to go shopping to decorate the house. If it had been up to him, he’d have picked the cheapest decorations (or not at all), but since it was important for her, he never complained or got impatient about it. The same way, he had _never_ lost his temper with any of the orphans, and damn, that feat deserved a prize because the little bastards surely knew how to cause trouble when being in the mood for it.

Truth was that with people he didn’t care about his tolerance was reduced to zero, but in general, he wasn’t the kind of person who minded to wait if there was a sound motive for it, which meant that, under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have been bothered about Vergil and Dante’s absence.

However, the circumstances were _not_ normal. It had just taken Vergil and Dante _two hours_ to finish destroying the Qliphoth. He had seen the main root fall with his own eyes after he finished cleaning the streets of Red Grave, which meant that those two had fulfilled his mission with success.

So... where _the fuck_ were they?

He had never been in the Underworld before, and he guessed that leaving that place shouldn’t be as easy as walking through a damn door, but still, Vergil had a damn sword that created portals and opened dimensions as easily as cutting cheese. Even in the case Vergil and Dante had come up with some trouble, such as getting ambushed on their way back to the Human World, he doubted it would take them a damn _month and half_ to overcome it.

Something must have happened so that they weren’t back yet, and the fact that his gut was pointing Vergil as the main culprit made Nero be afraid that maybe he had been too optimistic by believing in that promise of a future fight with his father.

The worst part was that there was nothing he could do about it. Even if he could find a way to enter the Underworld to try to bring those idiots back, he didn’t know where to begin to search, not to mention that there had to be someone on that side to keep demons in check. He could only hope that Vergil hadn’t left without the intention of coming back, and ‘patiently’ wait until the man decided to honor him with his presence again to finally talk things through.

“Nero!!” The devil hunter cursed when at that moment Julio’s voice sounded at the other side of the bathroom door, startling him. “Kyrie says you’ll pay for the water bill if you stay much longer inside there!”

“Shit, okay, I’m there in a minute.”

“And she also said that you shouldn’t curse!”

Nero did so nevertheless, though in a lower tone so that Julio didn’t hear him. He hurriedly reached for the shower gel to begin washing himself and three minutes later he was climbing down the stairs, barefoot but dressed in his usual worn-out trousers and a short-sleeved grey t-shirt.

When he entered the kitchen, everyone was already sitting at the table. Julio was in the process of drinking his milk while Kyrie watched Carlo sitting on the highchair, making sure the boy properly chewed his food before swallowing.

“Sorry, I spaced out. If the bill raises too much send it to me and I’ll—”

Kyrie’s soft laugh interrupted his apology.

“Please, Nero, there’s no need for it. It was just an excuse to make you hurry up not to miss breakfast.” She threw a light reproachful glance at Julio when this one was about to introduce a too big piece of pancake in his mouth. “Because with how fast these kids eat, they’ll be done in less than five minutes.”

Nero held back a laugh when hearing Julio’s offended ‘ _It’s not my fault that it’s so tasty!_ ’ that didn’t seem to convince Kyrie. He took a seat in front of the woman and reached for the kettle to serve himself some coffee.

“Where’s Kyle by the way? Still sleeping?”

The pause that followed caused Nero to avert his eyes from his cup to Kyrie. The woman was taking her time in choosing her next words, but her effort went to waste when Julio intervened.

“He says he wasn’t feeling well this morning, but it’s a lie. I think he’s angry with you.”

Nero’s eyes opened more when hearing Julio’s answer, which for sure was blunter than Kyrie would have ever been.

“Is he?” He inquired towards Kyrie, and her cautious expression answered him before her words did.

“Well, maybe ‘angry’ isn’t the best word. I think he’s still getting used to our separation.”

Nero managed to change the _‘Damn’_ he was about to say by a sigh, while Julio muttered an approving ‘ _Yes, that_ ’ that Carlo tried to imitate in his baby language.

“Sorry, I should have got more in touch with you during these weeks.” He said while crossing his arms on the table, but Kyrie only shook her head.

“You called whenever you could, Nero. It’s not your fault.” She also leaned her hands on the table, one on the top of the other. “If there’s someone to blame is me. I didn’t notice he was feeling that way until some days ago, when you said you were stopping by and he started acting—”

“Weirder than usual.”

“ _Julio…_ ”

“What? Being weird is not something bad!”

The kid meant that. Julio loved Kyle and had never mocked the boy for being shier and quieter than what a seven years old boy ‘was supposed to be’. In fact, Julio had got in trouble with other kids when these ones called Kyle weird ‘ _but in a bad way!_ ’, as Julio used to say.

Kyle wasn’t as easy to read as Julio or Carlo, so they had always needed to pay some extra attention to make sure that the boy wasn’t keeping too negative emotions for himself. Now Nero felt like an idiot for not having realized about the boy’s feelings sooner, something that he planned to remedy right then, even if a little late.

“I’m gonna talk to him.” He said while standing up, causing Kyrie to offer a warm smile at him.

“Thank you, Nero. I’ll make sure these gluttons leave you two something to eat.”

Nero smiled at the offended ‘ _Hey!_ ’ that Julio let out before exiting the room towards the second floor. He went directly to the kids’ bedroom and knocked a couple of times. He called for Kyle’s name when the boy didn’t say anything, deciding to enter when he still had no answer.

The boy was lying on his bed curled on his right side, hugging his favorite toy while giving his back to the door. Nero scratched the back of his head before approaching the bed, stopping when his knees touched the side of it.

“Make me some space, buddy?”

The boy didn’t move immediately, making Nero believe he was going to ignore him, but after a few seconds the boy got closer to the edge, leaving two thirds of the bed for him. Nero accepted the ‘invitation’ and lay on the small bed facing up, flexing his left arm behind his head while keeping his right on his stomach.

Spending time with Kyle had taught Nero that it was better to give the kid space to express himself in the way he wanted without trying to force answers out of him, so that’s what he did. He made him company in silence for some minutes, until the boy felt ready to break the silence.

“How was your trip?”

Nero snorted.

“Honestly? Rather crappy. It was tiring, boring, and some of the places I visited were really ugly.”

After a pause, Kyle turned around slowly on the bed to offer him the most confused expression ever.

“And why didn’t you go see pretty places?”

Nero couldn’t help to laugh when Kyle managed to call him dumb just with his expressive face.

“Because I was searching for information about someone, so I couldn’t choose the places to see, you know?”

Kyle hummed in understanding. He then lowered his eyes before muttering the next words.

“You’ll be leaving soon, right?”

Nero sighed and nodded.

“Yeah.”

“When?”

“Tomorrow. But I’ll come back soon, I promise.”

Kyle didn’t say anything, but the way he hugged his toy tighter spoke volumes about the boy’s feelings.

“I don’t like that you don’t live here anymore.” Kyle said with a thin voice, without meeting his eyes yet. “I miss you.”

Nero decided that that was the signal to enclose his right arm around the boy. Kyle pushed his toy aside and wrapped his arm around Nero’s stomach, returning the hug.

“I miss you too, buddy.” Nero deposited a soft kiss on the top of Kyle’s head and removed his left hand from behind his head to rub the boy’s arm in a calming way. “And I know that changes suck a lot, but not living here anymore doesn’t mean I’m gonna disappear. I’m gonna keep in touch, and coming to visit, and I’m always gonna be there for you four. That’s _never_ gonna change, okay?”

Kyle exhaled a trembling sigh and looked up to meet Nero’s eyes.

“You swear it?”

Nero nodded.

“I swear.” He released Kyle and reached for one of the leather bracelets he always wore in his left wrist in order to put it around the kid’s wrist. “Here. This way you won’t forget that you have me for whatever you need.”

Kyle observed the improvised present in silence before nodding.

“Okay.” Kyle surprised Nero by pointing at him with his index. “But you still have to keep calling us from time to time.” 

The boy’s ultra-serious tone made Nero exhale a chuckle before adopting a light offended tone.

“Hey, of course I will! I wasn’t planning to buy you with this, I’m not Nico.”

Kyle finally laughed at that, since it was already well known around the place that the craftswoman often gave the kids old stuff so that they left her alone with her work. It was a distraction technique that the children already knew about, and that they didn’t hesitate to exploit to their benefit.

“So, you feel better now?”

Kyle offered him one of his rare smiles.

“Yes, I’m good now.” The kid shook his wrist a little. “And thank you. Although you should give the other to Julio, or he will be jealous.”

Nero snorted.

“Yeah, I had the idea already.” Nero signaled towards the door with his head. “Okay, now let’s go downstairs before they finish all the food.”

As predicted, it only took Julio two seconds to notice the new accessory Kyle was wearing when they entered the kitchen holding hands. However, Nero had his other bracelet prepared in hand for the oldest boy, who didn’t have time to protest and simply thanked him effusively while Nero put him the bracelet with certain struggle, since not even then Julio was able to stay put.

Since his stop in Fortuna was going to be brief, he decided to walk around the area and check the regulars in case he could help them in any way, as he used to do when living there. After finishing the patrol, he spent the rest of the morning with the kids while Kyrie gave a helping hand in the hospital. He also volunteered to prepare that day's lunch, making sure to use the stove so that Julio had the chance of explaining in even more detail how he had managed to fix it.

The kids had just sat at the table and Nero was about to serve the food when the door of the house opened and Kyrie entered, followed by someone who neither the kids nor Nero were expecting.

“Yo! Did you miss me, goblins?”

Unlike Kyrie, whose presence was always soothing, Nico caused the opposite effect, so the next minutes were quite chaotic, courtesy of the craftswoman, Julio and Carlo. As usual Kyle was the most restrained; he was the only one who remained sitting at the table while staring at his right wrist with a small smile that made Nero smile on his own.

“Hey, don’t pretend to be deaf!” Nero exclaimed a pained _‘Ouch!_ ’ when Nico suddenly appeared in front of him and punched his arm. “I’m still waiting that the ugliest goblin admits he has been dying to see me.”

Nero suppressed a curse while rubbing his right arm.

“You wish. Travelling without your noisy ass was a nice change.”

“Oh, yeah? Well, in that case maybe this noisy-ass decides to keep a yummy piece of intel for herself.”

“Wait, so business goes _so_ bad that you are now selling intel? I told you your prices were too high, but you didn’t listen.”

“Hey, my business is _booming_ thanks to customers that appreciate _and_ understand the quality of the stuff I sell.”

“Well, if your customers are old hags who only buy weapons as decoration, yeah, I bet they don’t complain when they break with one use.”

“Oh my, you have _really_ missed each other, haven’t you?”

Kyrie’s amused comment caused Nero and Nico to stare at her in disbelief while Julio and Kyle burst out laughing. Nero and Nico cursed at the same time and interchanged a ‘glare’ while trying to suppress respective smirks.

“Well, _maybe_ I missed having someone around to pick up materials for free.”

Nero huffed and leaned against the counter with his hands resting on it.

“And I guess that a mad driver would’ve come in handy in the past weeks, although I _didn’t_ miss that old van that stinks of smoke.”

At any other moment, Nico would have lit one of her cigarettes to bother him, but they were at Kyrie’s house and smoking was forbidden, so Nico could only huff while hooking her thumbs on the pockets of her shorts.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t insult my babe so much, because _maybe_ you’re gonna need it soon.”

Nero frowned, since suddenly Nico sounded more serious than usual.

“What do you mean?”

Nico cleared her throat and reached for a piece of bread on the table before continuing.

“What I’ve told you about the intel, I wasn’t joking. I’ve heard a rumor from a mutual friend.” It seemed that Nico had only grabbed that piece of bread to have something to play with while talking, which made Nero feel almost as nervous as Nico sounded. “Well, it’s not _exactly_ a friend, but an acquaintance. And it’s not like she told me, you know? I just happened to eavesdrop something that I’m pretty sure I shouldn’t have heard and—”

“Nico, for goodness sake, what the hell are you talking about?” Nero couldn’t help to snap, causing the woman to be about to drop the almost destroyed piece of bread before exhaling a defeated sigh.

“Okay, screw it. Lady will probably kill me for this, but it isn’t as if she asked me to keep the secret.”

“What secret?”

“Dante is back.”

Nero didn’t react immediately when Nico dropped the bomb. He stared at the woman in disbelief, in the middle of the silence that had fallen after the kids detected that whatever was happening in the room was important.

“ _What?!_ ” He shouted when he finally managed to find his voice again, his body stiff and his hands turning into fists as confusion and anger spread through him.

“Okay, okay, don’t lose your tits.” Nico raised both of her hands towards him as if she was dealing with an angry animal that was about to attack. “I know it’s big news but—”

“But when did he come back? And how?” Immediately, a more pressing question invaded him. “And what about Vergil? Is he back too or just Dante has returned? And are they okay? And why the hell have _you_ heard about it and I knew nothing of this, huh?!”

“Nero, you’re turning blue...”

Kyrie’s soft warning made Nero realize that in fact he was beginning to trigger without realizing, since some blue scales were beginning to appear in his exposed neck and arms. Damn, he still had to get a hold on that new form. When he was worked up it was still difficult to fully control, which meant that for sure his pupils had turned yellow. It was a luck that at least his wings were easy to handle, or for sure they would have caused a mess on the kitchen counter in case of being summoned.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, slowly changing back into his human form. He then threw a hesitant glance towards the children, afraid of having scared them. Far from it, both Julio and Kyle were observing him in awe, and only exclaimed a sincere ‘ _How cool!_ ’ at unison while Carlo kept playing with his spoon. Nero felt a little jealous of the kid, who was getting himself covered in food without having a worry in the world.

“Sorry.” Nero finally said towards Kyrie, whose smile caused him to feel a little calmer, but just a bit. “But damn, if he’s back, if _they_ ’re back, why didn’t they say anything?”

Nico shrugged helplessly.

“I don’t know, man. I ain't even sure where he is, or if your old man is with him. I only heard Lady talking to Dante on the phone one time that I went to deliver her a weapon, but she hung up and changed the topic when I asked about it.”

Nero snorted with frustration while dropping back against the counter again, crossing his arms tightly in front of his chest.

“It seems that expecting that my family kept in touch was too much to ask.”

Nero felt everyone’s eyes in him in the silence that followed. He let his head fall slightly back, lost in his thoughts. He knew that Dante’s return didn’t imply that Vergil had done the same. They could have parted ways, and Vergil could have decided that coming back didn’t suit his plans.

That last thought caused Nero’s stomach to sink, as every time that the possibility of Vergil not returning his feelings came to his mind. And as usual, he pushed the thought aside, determined to trust what V told him back then.

“ _In a future, perhaps there is a time in which you will not recognize me as I am now; in which I may look different to everyone’s eyes; in which my feelings for you could look clouded, even nonexistent. But when that happens, you must remember it will still be me, that I will still be there, that I will still harbor feelings for you._ ”

Maybe he was just being naive. Maybe _V_ had been naive, and at the end Vergil didn’t care about him the way he used to do. But until he wasn’t 100% sure of it, he planned to stick with the promise he made to V, and not to give up until obtaining a satisfying answer from Vergil.

With his resolve reactivated, Nero brusquely separated from the counter, startling Nico and Kyrie when he walked between them.

“Hey, where are you going?” Nico exclaimed as he walked out of the kitchen door.

“To call my idiot uncle.” He snapped once he was in the living room, handset already in hand and marking one number with the other. “If he’s as dumb as I think he is, there aren’t many places where he should be, and he has some answers to give.”

“Wait, Nero!”

He stopped marking when hearing Kyrie’s urgent voice, realizing then that _everyone_ had followed him there, including Carlo, who had somehow escaped the high-chair and was walking around, surely planning his next mischief.

“I don’t think that doing that is a good idea,” Kyrie continued. “If Dante is trying to avoid you, don’t you think that calling him maybe makes him change locations?”

“Yeah, it’s too risky,” Niro intervened. “The best solution is to make him a little surprise visit.”

Nero cursed under his breath and hung up.

“Okay, maybe you’re right, but how do we know where to go? Red Grave’s office is our best guess, but it’s not the only one Dante uses. If we go there and we are wrong, we’ll be giving him time to leave again.”

“As I’ve said, don’t lose your tits.” Nico approached him and settled both hands on his shoulders. “Kyrie has just said that _you_ shouldn’t make the call, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to find out where Dante is.”

“How? Lady refused to tell you anything, and I bet it will be the same with Trish.”

“Yeah, the gals are out of the question. They’re on Dante’s side, and for sure they’ll warn him if he doesn’t want to be found. But you’re forgetting someone very important, whose job _literally_ consists of handling intel and who for sure won’t have major trouble in discovering where your dear uncle is.”

Nero’s eyes opened more when understanding what Nico was implying.

“You mean Morrison?” Nico nodded. “But Dante and he have known each other for years, how are you so sure he won’t warn Dante the moment we call him?”

“Easy: because he has the vibes of someone that _never_ interferes in other people’s business, so we ain’t nothing to worry! And I mean, it’s not as if a stranger is asking for Dante’s location. I’m sure he won’t say a thing. Besides, I contacted the man a couple of times after that shitt— _stupid_ tree incident, and we get along just fine. He won’t be able to resist my natural charms, _and_ much less the bunch of money you’re gonna pay him for this job.”

Nero snorted and nodded.

“Yeah, I guess the man’s our best shot. Can you get in touch with him?”

Nico smiled proudly and patted his shoulders twice with enthusiasm.

“Leave it to me.”

Nero turned towards Kyrie when the craftswoman stomped out of the room, probably in the direction of her van. He was opening his mouth to apologize, since at the end he should be leaving way sooner than he thought, when Kyrie started speaking to the children with an efficient tone.

“Julio, can you do me a favor and make sure Carlo finishes lunch? And Kyle, go upstairs to help me pack Nero’s clothes. That way we’ll finish faster.”

Nero stared at the kids dumbfounded when Julio rapidly went for Carlo before the baby could break something and Kyle ran up the stairs in the direction of the bedroom, both kids obeying without protesting.

“You should go finish cleaning your weapons,” Kyrie told him next, since it was a task he had scheduled for that night, before knowing he would need to leave in such a haste. “I hope you don’t need to use them, but I guess you never know with the Sparda family, right?”

There weren't many people whose kindness could put a lump on Nero’s throat, but Kyrie managed to do it again, just like when he told her about his ties with Vergil, and she accepted his feelings towards his father without judging him in the least.

“Thank you,” he hugged the woman tightly in an impulse, causing this one to let out a breathless gasp before returning it.

“I hope you can find him.”

Kyrie’s wish was sincere, which only made Nero think once again how lucky he was for still having her in his life.

Twenty minutes later, a small suitcase with his things was stored in the van together with his weapons.

“Yo! We have a destination!” Nico announced when Nero dropped in the copilot seat next to her.

“Damn, that was fast,” Nero closed the van’s door and looked at Nico with a pained grimace. “It’s been expensive, right?”

“Weeell, let’s say you’ll have to be on bread and water for the next few weeks.”

Nero exhaled a resigned sigh while bumping the back of his head against the headrest.

“Fuck, when I see Vergil, I’m gonna kick him _so_ hard...”

Nico laughed and started the van while Nero waved his hand goodbye towards Kyrie and the orphans with a smile that contrasted with his current parricide instincts.

“Well, you’ve done it once already, so for sure you can do it a second time.”

Nero barked a short laugh before looking at Nico with a serious expression.

“Thanks, Nico. I owe you big for this.”

Nico huffed, reaching for a cigarette and leaning to her right so that Nero could lit it.

“No need to thank me, man. I already planned to put it to my tab.”

For the first time, Nero didn’t protest about it. He only leaned his elbow on the opened car window, his eyes looking in front of him with determination, fixed on the road that would hopefully lead them to his idiotic father before this one decided to disappear on him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dante and Vergil were suppossed to appear in this chapter already, but a wild Nero-being-adorable-with-kids appeared and I preferred to leave the twins for the next update when I almost hit 5k in this chapter ^^U
> 
> The father and son talk (and _aftertalk_ hehe) draws near!! :)


	22. After the Qliphoth (II)

**_July 30 - 1:30 p.m. (Residential Area of certain city)_ **

The magazine resting on Dante’s face slid down from it when the ring of the doorbell startled him awake. He yawned while uncrossing his arms and lowered his legs from the desk, paying no attention to the rush of blue energy that passed next to him, moving the pages scattered on his table.

Dante stood up from the chair and rolled his shoulders before approaching the office door. Necessity had forced him to install a peephole on it, so he took a glimpse through it. There was a woman outside. A _hot_ woman, to be precise, so Dante made a poor attempt of combing his hair - that only served to leave it even messier - before opening the door.

“Hey there.” He said with his best smile, leaning his arm on the frame with casualness while doing so. “Something I can do for you?”

“Excuse me, Dante Sparda?”

“Yeah, the one and only.”

The woman smiled and bent down to open the food delivery box that was at her feet.

“Congratulations!” The woman straightened her position again to offer Dante a family pizza with an energetic gesture. “Thanks to your generous investments during the past half-a-year in TVPizza, you have been promoted to VIP client! This is a small welcome gift for you.”

Dante blinked a couple of times with surprise. He didn’t know how he had missed the unmistakable smell of pepperoni coming from the box until then. Although well, his eyes had been fixed on the woman’s generous cleavage since the woman reached for the pizza. Yeah, maybe _that_ explained it.

“Wow, I think it’s the first time I've won something.” He grabbed the gift and winked at the woman. “Thanks, sweetheart. And tell your bosses I’ll invest even more money if you keep coming here to deliver.”

His ego suffered a blow when the woman nodded politely without showing any trace of having fallen for that last seductive line. He exhaled a resigned sigh and closed the door with his foot, deciding to think that the motive of the lady’s lack of interest lay on her sexual preferences and not his age.

“Hey, you can get out already,” he shouted once he was inside again. “It wasn’t your son.”

He had just left the box on the small table placed in front of the sofa when he heard some calm steps and Vergil appeared in the room, walking with a dignity that resulted rather funny given that he had just exited the broom closet.

“Are you certain of that?”

Dante offered Vergil a look when hearing his suspicious tone.

“Well, unless Nero has grown a pair of E-cup boobs during these past weeks, yeah, I’m sure.”

Dante ignored the glare his brother threw at him, since he was focused on not salivating with the sight of that freshly made pizza that was calling for him to dig in.

“Did you order it?” Vergil asked while leaving Yamato resting between the wall and the sofa, in the same spot it had been before he grabbed it and teleported out of the door’s view.

“Nope. It’s just my prize for knowing how to invest my earned money.”

Vergil took a seat on the sofa with his legs crossed, observing Dante while this one burned his fingers in his eagerness of grabbing a pizza portion.

“And it didn’t occur to you that perhaps your enemies could have sent it to kill you?”

It took Dante a moment to be able to talk, since his tongue was on fire after taking a bite of the portion when it was still way too hot.

“I don’t know if it’s different in other places, but the demons around here are not that clever to order pizza.”

“Obviously, I wasn’t meaning the demons,” Vergil said with impatience, resting his elbow on the sofa arm. “But I doubt that your nosy personality hasn’t managed to anger certain fellows who may have the skill to do so.”

Dante dropped on the other side of the sofa, eyeing at Vergil with patience.

“Verg, relax, okay? You’re just paranoid. And besides, the fellows you talk about would not bother with sending me a poisoned pizza; they would send a horde of demons after me to destroy the office.” He took another bite - less painful than the previous, thank goodness - before pointing his chin at Vergil. “Sounds familiar?”

Vergil rolled his eyes at his not-very-subtle accusation and uncrossed his legs for a moment in order to lean forward towards the pizza, examining it with a critique eye.

“In my defense, it was your fault for not accepting my proposal a year prior.”

Dante peeked to make sure Vergil wasn’t taking the bigger portion for himself before talking.

“You mean when you assaulted my office at night, scaring the shit out of the only good lay I got in months? Damn, how could I say no to you then?”

“I didn’t think you were the resentful type, little brother.”

“And I’m not, but jeez, it had been a bunch since the last time I had got some action and you ruined it with your stupid offer.”

“If it makes you feel better, I properly apologized to your conquest after leaving.”

“Oh, did you really? I didn’t take you for such a ‘gentleman’.”

“Well, as you said, it was a scare for her, so the least thing I could do was to ensure she abandoned the area safely and satisfied.”

“...Wait, what do you mean with ‘satisfied’?” Dante’s eyes opened more while pointing at Vergil with his free hand. “Wait, are you saying that you banged her too?!”

“I’m sorry, Dante, but a ‘gentleman’ doesn’t kiss and tell.”

Dante’s mouth ended as opened as his eyes when Vergil reclined back against the sofa with a small smirk of superiority that _did_ tell a tale. An incredulous laugh escaped him as he observed his brother crossing his legs again while taking a bite of his own portion. How the bastard managed to look stylish while doing so, Dante didn’t know; though maybe the expensive navy-blue shirt the man was wearing (because yeah, that was ‘casual look’ for Vergil) had something to do with it.

“Damn, I didn’t take you for a manwhore either, Verg.” Dante hesitated, but he thought they had delayed _that_ conversation long enough. “But I guess that’s part of the reason we’re here now, huh?”

The peaceful mood that had settled between them changed into a less comfortable one when Vergil tensed and averted his gaze, following his line of thought. Dante exhaled a sigh and shifted his body towards Vergil, leaning his elbow on the sofa while crossing one of his legs under the other.

“Look, I know you said you wanted to tie any loose ends, but we have destroyed until the last seed of Qliphoth that remained in the Underworld, and checked there wasn’t any portal opened leading to this side, _and_ even cleaned the city up and down. I mean, there’s nothing else for us to fix. At this rate, we’re gonna help grannies with cats stuck in trees, and sorry, but even I have a limit to be a good Samaritan.”

Vergil hadn’t moved while he talked. His brother continued gazing in front of him with his arms crossed in a clear rejecting stance that Dante’s humor didn’t manage to relax, which encouraged the devil hunter to go for a more serious approach.

“And hey, I know that I’m not the best giving advice.” _And much less the romantic one_ , he thought in self-mock before continuing after a short pause. “But what I’m trying to say here is that, maybe, it’s already time to check where Nero is. He can play tough, but he’s more of a softie than he likes to show and I’m sure he’s worried about you—”

Dante couldn’t say he was surprised when Vergil got off the couch after dropping his barely eaten portion on the box, forcing him to raise his face to look at him.

“You were right, Dante.” Vergil offered a warning side-glance at him. “Your advice isn’t required in the least.”

Dante observed Vergil in silence as this one recovered Yamato. Dante exhaled a new sigh and tilted his head once to the side, recovering his previous position on the sofa to be leaning against it, with his unoccupied arm across the top of it and both feet planted on the floor.

“Okay, okay, duly noted,” he said in his best casual tone when Vergil had started walking towards the stairs, leaving the conversation for finished. “Don’t worry then, brother. You can keep hiding here as long as you need.”

Dante started humming a song while finishing what remained of his portion, pretending not to notice the way Vergil’s shoes almost skidded on the floor when this one stopped on his tracks to turn around, slowly.

“What did you just say?”

Dante, who was distractedly licking his fingertips not to waste any of the pepperoni sauce that had ended there, looked at Vergil with a pretended confused expression, as if he wasn’t aware of the sudden temperature drop in the room.

“You mean when I’ve said you’re _hiding_ here?” He held Vergil’s icy glare while continuing talking in a light tone that contrasted with his serious eyes. “Well, I could phrase it in a different way. Like, you _running away_ from Nero. Do you prefer it like that, huh?”

The tension that fell next between them was nerve-wracking, charged with the familiar electricity that always preceded one of his battles. After some seconds, Vergil started walking towards the sofa with a calm demeanor that contrasted with the force he was gripping his sword. Dante found himself remembering where he had left his own weapon to be able to recover it fast in case he saw an actual killing intent coming from Vergil.

“Are you calling me a coward, Dante?”

The devil hunter sustained Vergil’s gaze, feeling a heat of anticipation spreading inside him. During the past weeks, they had ended losing the count of how many times they had fought in the underworld. In theory, their coupon of ‘battles to death’ should be sated for the following months at least, but still Dante was tempted to answer affirmatively, just to discover what Vergil's reaction would be if he pressed his buttons a little.

He was a greedy bastard, and he couldn’t get enough of fighting Vergil. It was then when he could affirm without any doubt that his brother’s attention was focused on him; the only time in which, somehow, it felt as if Vergil was his, something that he would be never able to achieve by other means because of Nero.

Dante admired his own self-control when, after some instants of doubt, he let that urge go. This wasn’t about him; it was about Vergil. So, as the doting, _dumb_ little brother he was, he bit his tongue not to initiate that battle he was craving with every inch of his body and snorted instead, shaking his head while leaning his elbows on his knees, hands hanging between them.

“No. You’re a lot of things, Verg, but you ain’t no coward.” Dante pointed at him with his chin. “Although you _are_ scared shitless.”

Vergil half-closed his eyes, his jaw tensing.

“I’m not.”

Dante hummed when some defensiveness slipped in Vergil’s threatening reply.

“Sorry for bringing the bad news but yeah, you are.” Dante raised his right hand when he saw Vergil planned to protest. “And come on, let’s not begin with the ‘I’m-not-You-are’ battle because we’re too old for that. Besides, you may not want to admit it, Verg, but you know deep inside I’m right. And I mean, it’s not something bad! Everyone is afraid of something, you know? For example, I’m terrified of beginning to lose my touch in the flirting department. And in your case, it’s evident that feelings are your kryptonite.”

Vergil huffed when hearing his speech, but his murderous aura had decreased as he leaned against the bar stool placed next to the office jukebox, keeping Yamato between his slightly parted legs.

“I cannot fathom how you can be worried about a skill you’ve never had in the first place.”

It took Dante a moment to understand Vergil’s insult, but when he did, he felt honestly offended.

“Hey, don’t talk about what you don’t know! For your information, I was super popular when I was younger.”

“My apologies, but our mother calling you cute when you were an infant does not count.”

Dante opened his mouth while pointing at Vergil with his index in a menacing way, just to end huffing by making a dismissive gesture with his hand.

“Damn, I don’t know why I try to be nice with an ass like you.” He reached for another pizza portion and took a big bite of it in order to show his annoyance.

None of them talked during the following minute, and it wasn’t until Dante was about to grab his third piece when Vergil broke the silence.

“The problem does not lie within how _I_ feel.” Dante shifted his head to look at Vergil when this one started to talk. “I’ve already made my peace with the path V chose, and I’ve come to accept that I cannot change what V and Nero went through, neither the sentiments V, and consequently _I_ , developed during that time as a result.”

Dante continued looking at Vergil, waiting for him to add something else to clarify his words. Of course, expecting that his brother talked like a normal human being instead of being his usual cryptic self was too much to ask.

“O - kay.” Dante frowned, taking his good seconds to analyze his brother’s words before venturing to make a guess. “So you’re saying that you don’t trust Nero’s feelings?” Dante would have missed the brief, betraying clench of Vergil’s jaw in case of not being paying attention, but he was. “Damn, then for sure you ain’t nothing to worry.”

Vergil offered him a reproving look.

“A daring assumption, given that you know practically nothing about your nephew.”

Dante shrugged before interlacing his fingers behind his head, dropping back against the sofa.

“Maybe not, but my gut is telling me that Nero isn’t the kind of guy who goes kissing people around without a motive.”

His comment made Vergil look at him with an expression of astonishment.

“How do you know that?”

Dante was about to laugh when Vergil _almost_ babbled, managing not to do so at the last second.

“I always sleep with one eye open. That bitch-slap almost made me faint, but I still saw your fight, and what happened afterwards.”

Vergil clicked his tongue, averting his eyes again in a childish way that caused Dante to be about to chuckle. He exhaled a deep breath, stared at Vergil for a few seconds longer than necessary, and talked after thinking his words beforehand for once, something he was rather proud of.

“As I’ve said, I’m far from being the best to give advice, given that I tend to screw things up more than fixing them. But believe it or not, I know how scary opening to someone can be when you aren’t sure about how they’re gonna react, and if your partner was someone else, I wouldn’t intrude. But damn, Verg, you _really_ have it easy with Nero. It was obvious that your kid cared about V, and it’s obvious that he kept caring about your old ass too. And if you just dared to poke your head out of your shell, you’d see it.”

“I’m not blind, Dante.” Vergil intervened then with a light impatient tone. “Nero is not the embodiment of secrecy. He has never been too difficult to read, and his emotions were written in his eyes at that moment. However, I’m also aware of how impulsive he is. He engaged himself in a relationship with V even when he knew nothing about him. If he had known about who V was from the start, I doubt he would have agreed to remain by his side.”

“But that’s just a supposition, Verg. There’s no way you can know what he’d have done in that case.”

“I cannot, but what I _do_ know is that Nero’s impulsivity is too unpredictable for me to trust, so I do not intend to make any future plans based on something so variable.”

Dante hummed during the silence that followed.

“So, basically, what you say is that you’re afraid of Nero giving you the brushoff.” He raised his hands conciliatorily when Vergil reached for his sword to unleash it. “Hey hey hey, easy there, Verg! I was just trying to summarize the situation here!”

Vergil offered him a look that showed he didn’t believe him.

“And you have the nerve of wondering why I’m ‘an ass’ with you.”

Dante chuckled, lowering his hands again between his legs when Vergil returned his sword to his scabbard.

“Yeah, well, maybe sometimes I deserve your cold shoulder.” After a small pause, Dante palmed both of his knees with energy. “Well, then it’s decided! Tomorrow I will give a little call to my old friend Morrison.”

Vergil frowned with confusion as Dante dug in the pizza again.

“What for?”

Dante swallowed almost without chewing to look at Vergil as he was dumb.

“I thought it was obvious: to discover where your son is.” Again, Dante raised his hand when Vergil was about to protest. “I know, I know, it’s clear to me that you don’t want anything to do with Nero yet, _but_ I don’t think it hurts to have that information. Just in case you grow some balls and risk yourself to get your happy ending with the kid, you know?”

Dante was waiting for the typical annoyed click of tongue, so when he didn’t obtain it he looked at Vergil, finding this one offering an inquisitive glance at him.

“What?” Dante asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the silence that fell next.

“I find quite curious the amount of trouble you’re taking to try to fix a matter that has nothing to do with you.” Vergil offered him a skeptic look. “Would you mind sharing why you care so much?”

Dante held Vergil’s gaze for a moment and shrugged with a sheepish smile.

“Because you may be an ass that I still wanna kill more times than not, but you’re also my brother, and I care about you.” It wasn’t enough to express what he felt, but it was all that he would allow himself to say before adopting his usual joking tone. “And because if this ends well, you’ll owe me a big one, you know?”

The surprised look that had appeared in Vergil’s was replaced by understanding when he added the last bit.

“Do as you wish, but do not expect any favors coming from me.”

Dante snorted while Vergil abandoned the stool.

“Says the squatter that steals my water, food and guest room.”

“Shall I remind you that if it wasn’t thanks to this ‘squatter’ you would still be drowning in debts?”

“...Jeez, just get off my sight already, you ungrateful jerk.”

Vergil chuckled at his defeated remark, the unfamiliar sound making Dante’s chest feel warmer without him being unable to prevent it.

Dante thought that Vergil was going to abandon the room in silence. However, the man stopped when he was at the start of the stairs to look at him.

“Enjoy your unhealthy meal, brother.”

Dante’s eyes opened more in surprise. The chosen words may not seem special, but the fact that his brother had talked instead of leaving in his usual quiet way told Dante that, probably, it was an indirect way of thanking him for their previous talk. Because God forbad Vergil from saying ‘thanks’ like a normal person.

“You enjoy your boring reading.” He replied with a small smirk, shaking the portion of pizza as a goodbye. “Don’t blame me if there’s nothing left for you.”

Vergil nodded once before disappearing upstairs with a complete lack of worry, as if he was foreseeing that despite Dante’s words, there would still be a couple of portions waiting for him later, as it ended up happening.

* * *

**_7:34 p.m._ **

Vergil had been staring at the same page of his book for several minutes without reading it when a couple of knocks sounded at his door.

“Hey, Verg, are you decent?”

He rolled his eyes at the unnecessary question.

“Of course I am. I’m not like you.”

The door opened and Dante sneaked his head inside.

“Just got a call from someone who apparently has some unwanted guests in the basement.”

“I see. Empusas?”

“Most likely, yeah.”

“And are you sure that they aren’t cockroaches like the last time?”

“Well, the woman said her Chihuahua went missing minutes before some growls started to sound, so I _really_ hope they are empusas. Wanna tag along and find out?”

Vergil shook his head no, passing the page for the sake of pretending to be immensely interested in his read.

“I do not think it’s worth the trouble just for a dog.”

Dante burst out laughing at that.

“Okay, got it. Next time I’ll just bother you when human blood is spilled, sounds better?”

Vergil answered Dante’s ironic comment with an approving nod that made Dante shake his head in resignation before leaving with a brief ‘ _See you later_ ’. Even with the door of the bedroom closed, Vergil’s sharp hearing allowed him to hear Dante whistling a song downstairs and recovering his weapons before taking his leave.

Once he was alone again, he left his book on the nightstand, leaning back against the pillows with his arms crossed.

“ _I know, I know, it’s clear to me that you don’t want anything to do with Nero yet, but I don’t think it hurts to have that information. Just in case you grow some balls and risk yourself to get your happy ending with the kid, you know?_ ”

Vergil clicked his tongue when remembering Dante’s words of that afternoon. Sometimes it marveled him how foolishly optimistic his brother could be. He had sounded so convinced about Nero’s feelings, and he felt deeply annoyed that such confidence had made him think that finding out where the boy wasn’t such a bad course of action.

Truth was that the idea of searching for Nero’s whereabouts had come to his mind more than once, but every time that such a thing happened, he ended up discarding it. The fact that the boy was not in Red Grave when Dante and he returned, as he promised he would be when everything finished, may have been the indication that the boy’s plans had changed during that month and half. The same way, within that time Nero could have decided that their relationship was too uncommon to work, or even amoral. And finally, the simple idea that Nero could have returned to Fortuna was enough to make his blood boil in anger.

What if Nero had regretted leaving his simplistic past life behind, and had decided to recover it in his absence? If that was the case, he preferred not to find out, and it would do Humankind good that he didn’t because the world had already suffered its good dose of annihilation during their months prior.

His thirst for power may have been pleased after his complete recovery, but his scruples still left much to be desired. In case of being right and finding out that Nero had dared to come back to his previous home with that woman and children, chances were high that he razed that house together with its inhabitants and surroundings; because if Nero wasn’t his, he wasn’t willing to let him belong to someone else’s.

Vergil closed his eyes and took a deep breath, deciding it was stupid to get upset about a scenario that he didn’t plan to witness any time soon. Dante could investigate Nero all he wanted, but at least for the time being, the only thing he would bother to know was that the boy was alive and well. _That_ was all he was willing to learn, since it was the only guarantee that none of the parts would end harmed as a result, neither Nero nor him.

He was considering the possibility of training a little to completely blow the annoyance those hypothetical outcomes had generated him when he heard the doorbell ringing. Vergil sighed with impatience and got off the bed, grabbing Yamato in his way to the first floor.

The short span of time that had passed since Dante’s leave made him open the door without checking the peephole, expecting to see his brother at the other side with an apologetic grimace on his face after having forgotten something.

The figure standing at the other side of the frame was, in fact, as tall as Dante, and his hair was just as white, but it was _not_ Dante; and the strained smirk it was offering him, toothy and almost feral, definitely was _not_ apologetic.

“Hey, dad.”

In his shocked state, this time, it was Vergil the one who didn’t see Nero’s bitch slap coming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was a good idea to divide the past chapter and this one in two. I love writing the twins interacting and the dialogue I had planned between them ended being way longer than expected <3 xDD
> 
> Aaaand father and son are 'happily' reunited again! More or less :DD


	23. After the Qliphoth (III)

**_July 30 - 7:37 p.m. (Residential Area of certain city)_ **

Vergil managed to keep a hold of Yamato when the force of Nero’s ‘slap’ threw him backward, but couldn’t brace for the impact of his back against the ground that momentarily removed the air from his lungs.

He swallowed back a pained huff while straightening until being in a sitting position. He slid the side of his right finger across his mouth to remove the blood smearing from his split lower lip. Thanks to his demonic heritage, such a minor injury would heal soon, way sooner than his wounded pride after not having been able to stop Nero’s hit in time.

After clicking his tongue Vergil stood up, gripping his scabbard with force while his right hand came to rest on the top of his sword. He had planned to extract it to offer Nero a similar ‘greeting’, but when his eyes dug on the boy to take a proper look at him, he stopped.

Nero’s heavy breathing showed that the boy was far from being calm, but his arms on either side of his body were loose, and his hands weren’t clenched into fists as Vergil was expecting. Nero was also frowning, and his jaw was tense, apparent indications of an angry state, but Vergil didn’t detect any kind of dangerous aura coming from the boy, as if that punch had stolen all his fighting energies from him.

That same afternoon he had told Dante that Nero was quite easy to read, but at that moment Vergil found it more difficult to do. The boy’s body language was full of mixed signals and contradictions, so for the first time, a mere glance wasn’t enough so that Vergil could deduce Nero’s inner state.

However, there was a specific part that was harder to misinterpret; a part that didn’t use to lie unless you had trained for it, and Vergil made sure to focus on it when Nero began to talk while stepping inside the office.

“A month and half. A _fucking_ month and half has passed since you both left, and if it wasn’t for Nico, I wouldn’t know you two were back. Was it really _that_ difficult to give us a call to let us know you were fine? Or what, were you waiting it was fucking Christmas to give the big surprise?”

Many emotions could be extracted from the words that Nero had snarled: disappointment, worry, anger. But, at the end, Nero’s blue eyes were the ones which gave Vergil the correct hint about the emotion which was prevailing over all the rest: relief. Nero could be disappointed, and worried, and angry, and have canalized those feelings in that first punch, but above all that, he was _glad_ to see him there, alive.

Such realization was about to put a familiar warmth in his chest that Vergil managed to push away before talking.

“If I recall correctly, neither Dante nor I made any commitments about informing of our return.” Vergil made the most of the stupor that his reply caused in Nero to coldly pronounce the next words. “Unlike certain someone, who promised that he would ‘crash at Devil May Cry until finding a place to stay’, but who wasn’t in Red Grave when we arrived.”

Nero’s hands clenched into fists at that.

“So you say it’s _my_ fault?” The boy snorted with incredulity. “Fuck, you have some nerve manipulating my words like that.”

“As far as I know, I’m merely repeating what you said.”

“Yeah, without fucking context, because it was supposed to be a plan for two _._ We _both_ agreed to move to Red Grave, _together_ , but you leaving without saying when you planned to come back changed things a little, don’t you think?”

“You still could have been there.”

“I WAS there.” For a moment Vergil thought the boy was going to attack him again for the frustration that slipped in his tone. “I spent the first two weeks in that office, waiting for you, or for a fucking call that told me you were fine; but when none of that happened, I left. I didn’t want to be the only one doing nothing _again_ while you two had all the fun. And I was stupid enough to think that if you ever came back, you would give Nico’s van a call, like you used to do when we were a team that trusted each other.”

Vergil managed to keep his face impassible, even if the hurt that tinged Nero’s voice didn’t leave him as indifferent.

“So I’m just gonna ask you one more time.” Nero took a couple of steps towards him, stopping when two scarce meters remained between them. “Why didn’t you call?”

Vergil had never taken demands or exigences well. If the circumstances were different, or if Nero was a different person, perhaps he would have said that he could decide where to go and when to come back at will, and that he didn’t owe anyone an explanation of his actions.

However, the situation they were living rescued a memory that Vergil had been careful not to touch until then, which drastically cut any kind of imminent reply on his part.

“ _...right back at you, V: what the hell are you doing here? Shit, I have been forced to walk through the fucking city up and down until finally finding you. For a moment I thought I wouldn’t be seeing you again..._ ”

Suddenly, holding Nero’s fiery, inquisitive gaze required an effort from Vergil that he wasn’t used to experience when confronting others. Everything felt too similar to [that day](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19270597/chapters/51966850), from Nero’s feelings to the fact that he had tried to put a gap between them that the boy hadn’t hesitated to close. Even that hope that V had harbored after seeing Nero again was back, gnawing at him.

As a result, the words that came to his lips were also rather similar to the ones V pronounced back then, perhaps not in form, but for sure in meaning.

“Because I assumed that, after all this time, you would have realized that the feelings you claim to harbor have no actual foundation.”

Nero frowned, confused.

“Do you think I don’t love you anymore?”

Nero’s capacity of expressing his feelings so easily was something that had always taken V off guard, and Vergil experienced it now firsthand. At least, in his complete form he had more control over his reactions, so his face didn’t betray the missed beat of his heart after Nero dropped that question in such a casual way.

“What I believe is that you should have given our current situation some proper thinking before reaching any hasty conclusions.”

“I have done that already.” Nero interrupted him with impatience. “Thanks to you, I had _a bunch_ of time to think, so I perfectly know where the fuck I stand.”

“So you expect me to believe that the latest events regarding our kinship haven't aroused any doubts in you?”

Nero’s frown accentuated, just before an expression of understanding appeared in his face.

“So this is what’s all about.” Nero snorted. “Okay, let me make it clear for you: you and me being father and son, I don’t give a shit about it. I don’t know if during this time your paternal instincts have suddenly woken up, but sorry because it’s too late for that. You should’ve thought about it twice before making me fall for you.”

Again, Nero’s bluntness caused Vergil’s heart to skip another beat. A momentary relief was about to settle in him when he didn’t detect any trace of hesitation in Nero. The boy didn’t seem to hold any moral struggle about their blood relation and the inappropriateness of a relationship carried out in those terms. Nero didn’t look as if he was pretending, he really looked at ease with it. But still, that was only one of the obstacles that Vergil had built to stop himself from doing the jump that, as V, he once managed to do.

“I didn’t do such a thing. V did.”

Nero stared at Vergil in disbelief before snorting.

“That’s the fucking same! V is part of you, right? So what you said about my ‘feelings having no foundation’? That’s bullshit. They’re still valid, because if I loved V, it means that I also—”

“ _Stop_ with this nonsense, child,” Vergil interrupted Nero before he could repeat that word so carelessly. “You never came to know V, which means that your words are empty.”

“I _did_ know V.”

“No, you did _not_.” Vergil hissed in a tone that wisely recommended not to keep down the path Nero was walking. “You two may have become lovers, and you may be foolish enough to believe that your feelings are genuine, but they have no validity when you were never aware of the magnitude of the burden V carried, and much less of his schema. Your fleeting affair was never enough to fully know V. The man you met, and that you claim to have held dear, was only one half of me. You never got to meet the whole. You never got to meet _me_ , so _stop_ using big words whose meaning you are not able to comprehend, boy, because you cannot make—”

“—such a statement when I barely know anything about you?” Vergil froze when Nero completed what he was going to say word by word. “That’s a familiar tune, you know? You said exactly that before I proved you that I knew you better than you thought.”

Vergil gritted his teeth when realizing that his harsh speech hadn’t affected Nero one bit. The boy’s resolution hadn’t faltered. If anything, it was more determined than before.

“I don’t have to convince you about how I felt towards V, because I already convinced him that, despite not knowing everything, I knew more than enough.” Vergil tensed when Nero took another step towards him, lowering their distance between them even more. “And just as I knew him, I've also come to know _you_.”

Against his will, Vergil was curious to discover if, for once, Nero’s confidence was minimally justified.

“How?”

“Through V.” Vergil’s eyes opened more at that. “Through his nightmares and the things he accidentally let slip. And then later through Lady, and through Trish, and through all the people I talked to and the places I went in order to learn everything I could about you.”

Vergil half-closed his eyes.

“Did you investigate me?”

Nero huffed while crossing his arms.

“I had a bunch of time to kill.” Nero’s sarcastic tone turned serious once again. “So yeah, I investigated you. I asked around and visited all the places where the older son of the almighty Sparda had been. I listened to the feats you did, and all the messes you caused, and fought when some of my questions opened old wounds in certain fellas.”

Vergil raised an eyebrow.

“Forgive my skepticism, boy, but if you followed my steps as you say you did, I find it quite hard to believe that you had the earnings to make a trip of such a scale.”

Nero held his gaze for a second before nodding.

“You’re right. I didn’t have it, at first. But I managed to get a nice sum of money pretty quick.”

“Once again, at the risk of sounding distrustful, I cannot see how you managed to do so without resorting to illegal means.”

“Well, believe it or not, I got the cash with a single sale.”

Vergil was about to refute such a ridiculous statement when his eyes stopped at Nero’s neck. He was still registering the lack of a jewel that had been there the last time they met when Nero followed his eyes and nodded.

“Yep, it turns out it was even more valuable than I thought.”

Vergil’s eyes were still fixed on the place where that woman’s gift had been before, remembering then the conversation that V and Nero had, when his human half refused to believe that Nero had left Kyrie, and the boy had to come up with something quick that stopped V from leaving again.

_“You don’t believe me because I have that, right? Go ahead. Do the hell you want with it.”_

_“What I want?”_

_“Yes.”_

_“Even destroy it?”_

_“Yes.”_

_“I thought it was important to you.”_

_“It is important to me. That’s a symbol of what Kyrie and I had, and despite the breakup that’s something I will always hold dear. But right now, it’s more important to make you believe me.”_

At the end, V had stopped Nero from destroying the pendant at the last second, and Nero had kept it, just to eventually renounce to it for him nevertheless.

“And for the record, I have the damn invoice that proves it, because I know how damn distrustful you are.”

Vergil was brought to the present when Nero snapped that. He was having quite a trouble in maintaining his usual mask when seeing that despite the irony of the comment, Nero’s eyes had gained that overwhelming fondness that had made him leave to the Underworld.

“So, as I said, I investigated you.” Nero repeated, taking a new step forward. “And I’m not an idiot. I know that I’ve only discovered the things that you bothered to leave behind to be found, and that there still are things you’ll keep for yourself. That’s how you are, and it’s fine. I don’t have to know everything. I don’t _need_ to know everything. I just wanted to know enough to convince you that I’m serious about this, and that you can _finally_ stop hiding the truth, as V warned me you’d do.”

Vergil really hoped that Nero hadn’t inherited his sharp hearing. The last thing he wanted was that the boy noticed the accelerated rhythm his heart was beating, since it would shatter the image of calm he was struggling so much to keep.

“And, according to V, which truth I’m hiding?”

Nero’s new step left them close enough so that Vergil could feel Nero’s breathing mixing with his own when this one spoke again.

“That you may look different than V, and be stronger now, and behave like an even bigger high-and-mighty asshole, but the feelings he had, they are also yours. And that means that, the same as back then, you want me here. With you. I’ve already done _everything_ I promised I’d do if you decided to leave again. I’ve got rid of Kyrie’s pendant, and I’ve run up and down a bunch of cities because of you. If _all that_ is enough to convince you that I really love _you_ , Vergil, V, whatever you call yourself or whoever you decide to be, then great. And if it’s _still_ not enough to make you admit you feel the fucking same way…” Nero’s spectral wings were liberated at that moment, in order to crack his knuckles over them. “Well, you better get ready. Because I also promised that I would fight against you if it came to that, and I don’t plan to give up even if it means losing a limb again.”

Vergil found himself gulping, his throat feeling suddenly tight for the fierce passion Nero’s confession had displayed.

If there was someone who managed to make him react out of his usual character was Nero. For anyone who wasn’t the boy, having gone after his steps in such a way would have immediately gained them a stab of Yamato in the best case, and an instant death in the worst. As his human half, V had dealt with his wish of privacy in a more merciful manner, though he still acted warily around Nero when they first met, always wanting to keep his distance; always avoiding revealing too much; always pushing Nero away or retreating whenever the boy tried to get close.

But with time, he changed. With time, in his own way, he started to open to Nero. He started thinking that maybe with Nero, he didn’t need to be that wary; that he could show a side of himself that up till then he hadn’t wanted to develop with anyone.

As V, he had been forced to keep secrets, unable to risk that Nero decided to abandon their mission in case he caught an accidental glimpse of the whole to which V belonged.

As Vergil, he didn’t have a valid excuse such as the preservation of the world or his own survival preventing him from being sincere about who he was, or about how he felt. If he wasn’t doing it, it was because he didn’t want to, because he didn’t _dare_ to.

Hours ago, Dante had said that he was scared. He hadn’t admitted it, but his brother had been right. He had been afraid of craving what he had been able to have as V, just to discover that now it was out of his reach.

But it was within his reach. _Nero_ was within his reach. Once again, he had tried to push the boy away, and once again, Nero had returned to him, and now he was right there, in front of him, fighting against his impulsivity to let him have the last word; to let him make the choice.

Back then, as V, he had been too scared to give the final step. Right now, as Vergil, he refused to do that again.

He had spent the entirety of his life fighting to obtain power, wanting to be strong enough to do and take what he wanted without the risk of failing or losing it. He hadn’t reached that level yet. He still had to beat Dante beyond any realm of doubt, and he had to do the same with Nero. However, if there was something he had learnt was that he couldn’t expect to beat them if he was not willing to take any risks, and right then and there, he was going to take the first one by allowing himself to do what he had wanted to do for a while.

Which was to place his right hand on Nero’s nape to join their mouths together.

* * *

When Nero knocked at Devil May Cry’s office and heard Vergil’s steps at the other side, all the nervousness that he had been accumulating during the six-hour trip evolved into a mix of anger and relief.

Then, Vergil's strong reluctance to accept his arguments only reinforced his determination to prove the veracity of his feelings, overcoming everything else.

However, as the conversation dragged on, and as he started to identify in Vergil small hints that indicated that the man was starting to believe him, that nervousness had come back at full force, reaching its peak during the long seconds while he waited for Vergil’s final answer.

At that moment, even if overthinking wasn’t his thing, a bunch of scenarios had come to him, like Vergil rejecting him despite everything, or a sudden fight exploding in the place - making him regret having left his sword on Nico’s van -, or even Vergil teleporting far away to disappear in another dimension, this time forever.

A lot of theories had time to enter his mind, each one with a worse result than the last, before Vergil destroyed them all with a deep kiss that lit a heat on Nero’s lower stomach, his wings gradually vanishing as the kiss intensified.

It seemed that they were father and son for a reason, since Vergil had ended using the same technique that he used a month and half ago. Although, if he was totally honest, it would be unfair saying it was ‘the same technique’, because the kiss Vergil had initiated had _nothing_ to do with the peck Nero managed during their previous encounter.

This kiss was _way_ better. It was intense, hungry. It seemed as if Vergil was putting all his effort in making him surrender with it, and it was almost working. Nero didn’t know if in his whole form Vergil was even more skilled at kissing than V had been, or if all those weeks of wait were paying off now. Probably it was the last, but whichever the reason, the way Vergil’s tongue was rolling against his own was all he needed to start getting hard.

The proximity allowed Vergil to be aware of such detail, because Nero could notice Vergil’s smug smirk against his lips. Nero groaned, grabbing the front of Vergil’s shirt with both hands to be the one in leading the next kiss. He felt a wave of satisfaction when him nipping at Vergil’s split lip made the man finally release Yamato to grip his hip, his tightening fingers in the bone letting Nero know that Vergil liked the way his tongue was tasting the blood that had accumulated in the small injury.

Spurred on by Vergil’s reaction, Nero started walking the man backwards with the intention of pinning him against the desk. He made the mistake of lowering his guard at the last moment, allowing Vergil to revert their positions at the last second.

Nero was forced to release Vergil’s shirt with his right hand in order to slam it against the table to avoid ending completely spread on it. His stomach clenched when Vergil’s hips had enough strength to keep him pinned against the table, and his member throbbed when his mouth was re-captured in a dominating, biting kiss.

Damn, this way of making out was new. He kept a very good memory of his encounters with V, but the fact that Vergil had the physical strength to outpower him like that, it was kind of a plus.

Nero was playing with the idea of grinding forward, eager to see what kind of answer would wake up in Vergil, when this one separated to look at him with a seriousness that took him by surprise.

“Before taking this any further, you must have something clear. Two times you had the chance of walking away, and two times you decided to come back, forcing your way through my barriers, ignoring all the warnings of you staying away.” Vergil approached his face, allowing Nero to have the best view of his father’s intense grey gaze. “Those barriers are closed again, with you inside this time, and I’m not planning to open them. You are mine now, Nero, and I do not intend to renounce to you. I hope you bore this in mind when stating your feelings before.”

Nero released the breath he’d been holding during Vergil’s threatening speech.

At that moment, it came to his mind when Nico called V creepy and possessive, and he had to hold back a laugh when imagining the face that she would have made in case of having heard Vergil.

As usual, being direct wasn’t Vergil’s signature, but by then Nero was able to read between lines, which allowed him to summarize his father’s words in more direct terms: ‘ _You made me fall for you, so you better take responsibility and be with me forever or I’ll kill you._ ’ That was pretty much it, and as scary as it could sound to a normal person, he was down for it.

“Yeah, I knew what I was getting myself into.” He said without any doubt, daring to use an ironic tone next. “And keeping with the barriers thing, I’m _not_ leaving. Smashing my head twice against them to get to enter was hard enough already and I’m not planning to waste the effort, thank you very much.”

There was a ghost of a smirk in Vergil’s face when hearing Nero’s comment.

“Good.” Vergil’s approving tone turned even more warning than before next. “Also, I may indeed share the way V felt towards you, but do not expect that my behavior about certain matters is the same than the one my human half displayed.”

Nero had a rather accurate idea of what Vergil meant with that, and the particular ambit those ‘behaviors’ belonged to, which didn’t stop him from showing a teasing smile.

“So that means you won’t recite more poems saying how in love you are?”

His smirk widened when, this time, Vergil couldn’t keep his usual mask of imperturbability, showing a funny mortified expression.

“V _never_ did such a thing.”

“You sure he didn’t?”

“ _Extremely_ sure.”

“You really, _really_ sure about that? Maybe some memories are failing you from your time as Urizen and you actually did.”

“ _Nero_..."

This time he couldn’t prevent a laugh when Vergil practically growled his name with irritation. His carefree reaction made Vergil turn his head towards the place where Yamato had been dropped, so Nero rapidly grabbed Vergil’s shirt again to pull him into a new hard kiss, hoping that it worked as a nice distraction to remove his father’s ideas about stabbing him as punishment.

It worked, since after a light reluctant grunt Vergil kissed back, managing to take the upper hand as long as it lasted, which was until the door of the office suddenly snapped open, making them stop to look towards it.

“Well, brother, at the end they weren’t cockroaches and neither empusas. It seems that someone thought that making up a story of monsters in the basement was a nice joke—”

Nero didn’t know how it took Dante so damn much to focus on the desk. The devil hunter’s eyes snapped open when noticing the position that he and Vergil were in, seconds before a knowing smirk appeared in his face.

“Well, well, well,” Dante began with a mocking, lilting tone. “It seems that I’ve interrupted a _tender_ father and son bond moment, huh?”

Nero and Vergil rolled their eyes at the same time while putting some distance between them. Dante had started to chuckle, probably finding amusing the similar reaction, when a breathless Nico also appeared in the room, causing that the man yelped startled while Vergil’s eyes opened slightly more.

“Great job keeping watch, Nico,” Nero told the woman with irony, causing her to throw an offended glare at him.

“Oh, come on, I just went one minute to pee! It’s not my fault that _this guy_ has such a shitty timing to show up!” She accompanied the last sentence with an emphatic gesture towards Dante, who looked as confused as Vergil. “But anyway, enough with the suspense: have you two figured things out?”

Nero nodded, not noticing the silent dialogue that happened between the twins, when Vergil looked at Dante inquisitively and this one shrugged.

“Yeah, we did.”

Nico exhaled an exaggerated relieved sigh and barked a laugh before clapping her hands.

“Cool! Told you that Morrison was expensive for a reason.”

“Morrison?” Dante intervened, looking at the youngsters alternatively. “What does the old man have to do with any of this?”

“Oh, it was him the one who confirmed us where you were! The dude seems to have quite a net of informants around, so he sent one to all your offices.”

A brief, deafening silence fell before Dante broke it with a tone of disbelief.

“Wait a sec, does that mean that the hot babe that passed by today—”

“Yep, she was one of them!” Nico said enthusiastically while Vergil closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose in a V-like way.

“So that means I’m not a VIP client of TVPizza?!”

“I’m sorry, man, that was a lie. But hey, at least you ate pizza for free!”

“Damnit, I knew it was too good to be true…”

“And you had the nerve of calling me paranoid for suspecting that delivery.”

“W-Well, it wasn’t an enemy the one who sent the pizza!”

“But it _could_ have been, you fool.”

“And I’m also really sorry about that false alarm, but it was the only way to ensure the lovey-dovies had some time for themselves.”

“Wait, so it was you the lady who called?!”

“Hehehe, behold my genius: ‘ _Sorry to bother you at this hour, son, but my poor Bobby has gone downstairs and hasn’t come back yet…_ ’”

“ _Holy crap_ , you totally nail the old-hag voice, miss!”

“Aw, shut up, you’re gonna make me blush!”

Since his intervention in the current conversation was minimal, Nero decided it was a good time to pay Nico’s van a visit. He only managed to give a couple of steps before Vergil grabbed his arm.

“Don’t you dare leave me alone with these fools.”

Nero chuckled when Vergil threw a side glance towards Dante and Nico, who somehow had managed to engage themselves in an imitation battle.

“What, the former Demon King is scared of some socialization?” He chuckled again when Vergil half-closed his eyes at him. “I’ll be back soon, I promise. Just gonna recover my things.”

Nero also planned to call Kyrie to let her know everything had gone okay, but he wisely omitted that part, holding back a relieved sigh when Vergil released him reluctantly.

“Very well. But after you come back, you shall be ready to continue our unfinished talk.”

Nero initially frowned, believing for a moment that there was something that remained to be discussed. However, the familiar, hungry glint that passed to adorn Vergil’s eyes let Nero know that the nature of such conversation was very different from the one that had first come to his mind.

Before he could reply to Vergil’s subtle but evident proposal, Dante started a very accurate imitation of the man from the sofa where he was sitting with Nico, which caused Vergil to glare at his brother before proceeding to recover his sword from the floor.

Deciding he didn’t want to be there when his uncle’s blood was shed, Nero finally exited the office while adding ‘thorough shower’ to the tasks he had to do in Nico’s van, already looking forward to that ‘talk’ with his father that, he hoped, would last the whole damn night long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And FINALLY the dorks are together _AGAIN_ , ready for their 'talk' :DD
> 
> Just two chapter remain of the fic! A ~~heavy-plot~~ mostly PWP one and the epilogue, so I hope that the ones who have reached this point of the story stay tuned for them! <3 :)


	24. After the Qliphoth (IV) (NSFW)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the ones feeling sorry for Dante being in unrequited love with Vergil, don't worry because I have plans for him for a third installment of the series, including him in the relationship as well ;)
> 
> Once said that, hope you enjoy the mostly PWP chapter :DD

**_July 30 - 8:07 p.m._ **

Nero was pretty sure that he hadn’t stayed more than 15 minutes in Nico’s van. His call with Kyrie and the kids had been short but chaotic as usual, and for sure he hadn’t spent more than 10 minutes in the shower. So, he couldn’t understand how in that short span of time, the Devil May Cry office had become so damn crowded.

“Look, I just say that I’ve been keeping an eye to this place while you were out, _so_ I think it’s fair that you lend the office to me.”

“Oh my, _that_ ’s a fine joke.”

“What, you got something to say, Trish?”

“Of course I have, because it’s _me_ who has been periodically checking that the place was still standing while you fooled around.”

“Ladies, listen, don’t you think that given the circumstances we should finish our business elsewhere?”

“Wait wait wait, don’t be a party pooper, Morrison! I’m curious to see how far the ladies are willing to go to win my favor.”

“Well, what about this? You lend me the office and avoid getting a bullet in the head.”

“Wow, love, I don’t mind playing rough, Trish here can confirm you that, but _that_ may be too hard core even for me— wait, wait, wait! Come on, it’s a joke, Lady, put your gun down!”

“Yo, Nero! Were you ambushed by demons or what, slowpoke? Your dad here was beginning to get impatient.”

When hearing Nico’s teasing comment, Nero stopped focusing on Dante using Morrison as a human shield to avoid the trajectory of Lady’s pistol. His eyes were dragged first to the jukebox, against which Trish was leaning with her elbows resting on it, and then to the sofa situated next to it, where both Nico and Vergil were sitting.

The first was displaying a rather amused expression that contrasted with the tense posture his father was showing, brows furrowed and arms and legs crossed in a clear rejecting posture of everything happening around them.

Nero found himself checking that Vergil’s sword was a prudent distance, so that the others could have a chance of leaving the place unscathed if the man got pissed enough to put an end to the current ruckus.

“Oh, hello, Nero,” Lady greeted him with an amicable tone that contrasted with the way she was still pointing at Dante. “How are you?”

The situation was so bizarre that he only managed a short ‘ _Fine_ ’ before Trish intervened with a small smile.

“We have already learnt that Vergil and you solved your differences. I’m happy for you.”

Vergil clicked his tongue, and Nero’s admiration for the woman grew even more when this one didn’t look the least intimidated by the glare Vergil threw at her.

“Well, your blessing means the world to us, but we were still in the process of settling the matter when all of you interrupted us.”

Nero felt the tip of his ears burning when his father’s reproachful comment awakened a wave of amused ‘ _Oh_ ’s in the rest.

“Okay, okay, we get it.” Nico suddenly said, patting Vergil’s shoulder in a way that made this one’s eyes open more, as if he couldn’t process what Nico had dared to do. “You have a lot to ‘catch up’, so we’ll leave you lovebirds to it as soon as we finish dinner.”

“Dinner?” Dante inquired with interest. “What dinner?”

“Oh, the one that I ordered while waiting in the van.”

A short silence fell in the room before the three Sparda let out a unanimous ‘ _What?_ ’ that Nico also pronounced.

“Come on, it’s been a _long_ way from—” The woman managed to catch Nero’s pleading glance in time, in order to rectify at the last second. “I-I mean, on the road. We haven’t made any stops and now it’s way past dinner time and I’m _starving_. So show a little compassion and let this gal fill her belly, yeah?”

“And bringing such dinner to that van of yours to leave us alone is out of the question?”

“Okay, first, damn, you are even less sociable in this form, dude. And second, I think I’m not the only one starving, right Nero?”

Nero’s stomach decided to answer for him at that moment, rumbling so loud that the women began to laugh while Vergil deadpanned at him. At that moment Dante finally dared to abandon the protection Morrison offered in order to intervene in the conversation.

“Well, I have to admit that all this talk about food has made me hungry too. What have you ordered, miss?”

“Pizza! I ordered a couple for Nero and I.”

“Damn, then I’m in too. I’ll call to order another one.” While Lady raised her hand to add an enthusiastic ‘ _Two!_ ’ and Trish added a more calmed ‘ _Make it three_ ’, Dante looked at Vergil in the precise moment in which his brother looked about to protest. “And sorry, Verg, but I’m ordering for you too. You’ve barely eaten during these days and you’ll need some energy if you wanna beat me someday.” A knowing smirk appeared in Dante’s face while throwing a glance in Nero’s direction. “And also if you wanna rate S in your later _bonding_ with your son.”

Nero’s ears managed to burn even more at the last remark. He would have liked to answer something clever to his uncle, but this one was already addressing Morrison with a happy-go-lucky ‘ _What about you, old man? You in?_ ’ and just managed a snort.

He moved to the side to avoid Trish and Lady when the women passed him by in order to take a hold of the single pizza pamphlet scattered on the room’s round table. He then looked at Vergil, and held back a smile when seeing the expression of resignation that was bathing the man’s face as Nico enumerated the types of pizzas he could order. It seemed that his father had decided that the current battle wasn’t one he could win easily, and as V had been forced to do several times, he had decided that a momentary retreat was the best approach.

This time, he made sure to be quick in leaving his things upstairs before returning to the first floor. The others were still ordering, meaning that Dante was on the phone trying to put some order between Lady and Trish as these ones changed their choices over and over again. The exasperated man had barely hung up when Nico’s order arrived.

In theory she had ordered just for her and him, but Nero wasn’t surprised when Dante and the ladies ended up eating from the two freshly-made pizzas that were placed on the small table. He wasn’t surprised either when Vergil preferred to wait for his order instead of sharing, but his eyes followed his father when this one stood up to change seats on the opposite sofa, since the one where he had been sitting had become too crowded for his liking.

He observed Vergil, debating himself between contenting his hungry stomach or summoning up the courage to disappear upstairs leaving everyone downstairs, when Morrison approached Vergil and took a seat next to him. The men soon engaged in a conversation that, by basing on Vergil’s expression, was quite interesting, so Nero decided to stop worrying and attack what remained of his pizza.

Nero didn’t know if the place Dante had called was pretty close, or if maybe his uncle had some actual benefits for ordering so much there, but the rest of the pizzas arrived sooner than expected.

He kind of lost track of the time from then on. What he knew was that, at the end, the person with whom he less interacted was Vergil, since his father spent quite a bunch of time talking to Morrison before Nico kidnapped him to talk about a topic that, by basing on the enthusiastic glint of her eyes, involved weapons.

Then, when Trish took Nico’s place and Vergil accepted to indulge her in a new conversation, Nero began to suspect that his father was talking to _everyone_ but him on purpose, a guess that was confirmed for the occasional glances that Vergil started to throw at him before focusing again on the person he was speaking to.

Nero sustained Vergil’s gaze the next time the man’s eyes lingering way too much on him, feeling that previous heat curling in the pit of his stomach when the ghost of a smirk appeared on his father’s face before the eye contact was broken.

By then, Nero wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings. He didn’t notice Nico and Lady, who by then were a little drunk after all the beers they had, leaning against the office desk while discussing heatedly about something with their faces way closer than they should; he didn’t notice Morrison, who was sitting on the bar stool, smoking while observing everything and everyone with an amused smile; he didn’t even pay attention to Trish facing his father on the sofa.

Nero’s exclusive attention was on Vergil and Vergil alone, as his father for sure had orchestrated. And therefore, he was startled when Dante dropped on the sofa next to him and started to talk to him.

“If you don’t do something, I’ll do.”

Dante’s unexpected words caused Nero to look at him with his eyes open wide.

“What?”

Dante chuckled and took a sip of his beer before pointing at Vergil with his eyes.

“Come on, kid. You may have been raised like a prude in Fortuna, but _for sure_ you’re noticing the signals. My brother isn’t being too subtle.”

Nero gulped, averting his eyes from Dante before looking at Vergil again, whose attention seemed to be focused on Trish even if Nero felt it wasn’t that way at all.

“You sure?” He looked at Dante, who hadn’t understood his question. “I mean, wouldn’t it be better for you if we...I don’t know, went somewhere else?”

Dante hummed, a mocking smile drawing in his face.

“So you two ain’t planning to let me get any rest, ain’t you?” Dante barked a laugh while Nero felt a blush creeping up his neck. “It’s a joke. As you can see, I’m already used to people invading my place, so don’t worry about me, kid. Besides, the night is still young! It’ll be awhile until I call it a day, and in the meantime, I’ll make sure to keep things in check as usual.”

Nero snorted at Dante’s last comment, but despite the irony in his tone, he could say his uncle’s offer was sincere.

“Thanks, Dante,” he said, causing the devil hunter to offer him a new smile that now was more genuine.

“You don’t need to thank me. That’d be out of character.” Nero had just realized why those words sounded familiar when Dante elbowed him. “And now just go and claim your old man.”

Nero frowned, confused.

“That I do what?”

Dante rolled his eyes and leaned forward to whisper something in his ear that made Nero’s eyes open wide. He stared at Dante as this one separated to wink at him.

“Trust me on this, kid.”

Nero wasn’t very sure about doing so, but in the end his body took the decision for himself when seeing that Vergil looked too comfortable on the sofa, as if he didn't’ plan to move during the rest of the night.

His heart was pounding hard against his chest when he stood up to reach the opposite sofa in a few long steps. He stopped in front of Vergil, hands turned into fists on either side of his body and breathing heavy not just with nervousness.

Trish stopped talking to Vergil in order to look at him with surprise, but his father still made the theatre of taking a sip of his own beer before raising his eyes towards him.

“Yes, Nero?” the bastard asked in a composed, conversational tone that contrasted with the intensity of his gaze, the final push that Nero needed to crawl into Vergil’s lap to kiss him senseless, his legs and arms keeping him pinned against the sofa.

The way Vergil grunted in the back of his throat before returning the kiss with matching fierceness prevented Nero from paying attention to his surroundings. He ignored the mocking whistles that they obtained, and also the way Trish took the beer from Vergil’s hand to avoid it spilled on the sofa’s cushions before abandoning the place.

Dante’s playful ‘ _Get a room!_ ’ was what prevented Nero from kissing Vergil again when they separated. He was pretty sure that his face was quite red when he stood to his feet again. Luckily, his embarrassment only lasted until Vergil stood up and grabbed his arms, his surroundings getting blurry and the others’ voices more distant when his father teleported them both to the bedroom.

* * *

“Wow, I didn’t know you could teleport other people too—”

Vergil silenced Nero’s impressed question with his mouth, his hands settling on the boy’s t-shirt to begin raising it with calm but efficiency. Initially, he had felt quite annoyed by the turn of events, when so many uninvited guests had appeared to interrupt his plans with Nero. However, stirring Nero up during dinner had been a good divertimento. He hadn't foreseen that the boy would react in such a way, but it had been a pleasant surprise. One that had intensified even more his urgent need of making the boy his again.

“Damn, not a fan of foreplay, huh?” Nero joked, separating to take off his t-shirt while Vergil quickly verified the bedroom door was locked.

“Stating the obvious is not foreplay.” Vergil returned to Nero’s side to place his hands on his son’s exposed hips, avoiding Nero's seeking mouth to end the sentence in the boy’s ear in a light reproaching tone. “Besides, if you were looking for a slow night, perhaps you should have fought against your gluttony.”

He felt Nero shiver when he nipped his earlobe in a feathery way. The boy snorted then, his hands reaching up between their bodies to start unbuttoning his shirt with fingers that shook a little because of the impatience.

“Sorry, but being hungry after eating nothing since 10 a.m. is normal. And shit, what the fuck is wrong with these buttons? Why the hell are they so small?”

Vergil sighed and slapped Nero’s hands away from his chest.

“It was a miracle that V’s corset ended in one piece.” He efficiently continued unbuttoning the clothing while Nero crouched on the floor to remove his sneakers. “You are lucky that delicacy is not a requirement in your job.”

He was about to discard his shirt when Nero’s hands grabbed his waist, making him leave the clothing on and opened. From his crouched position, Nero started raising to his feet, licking a vertical pattern that started over Vergil’s navel and proceeded upwards. Vergil suffered a small shiver when the tip of Nero’s tongue travelled through his abs and continued the outline of his pectorals to end encircling a nipple.

Vergil’s breath hitched when Nero lapped at the bud. The wet pressure was unfamiliar in that body, but not in his memories, so Vergil’s left hand moved by instinct to settle it in the back of Nero’s neck, as V had done quite a few times in the past so that Nero went rougher.

The boy did just that, using his teeth to grasp the aureole. Vergil grunted in approval at the increase of pressure, the sound encouraging Nero to repeat the action in the other pectoral.

Each pull of Nero’s teeth provoked a pleasant electrical shot that travelled down his body until reaching his lower half, which had started taking interest. When the sensation of his member straining against his trousers began to become uncomfortable, Vergil grabbed Nero’s chin to force him to be at the same level.

He kissed Nero again while his right hand travelled down in order to unbuckle his pants. Nero mimicked his action. The metallic click of their pants being opened mixed with the wet sounds their mouths were doing, the last soon replaced by their groans of relief when they started to mutually stroke themselves in order to release themselves a bit.

“Damn.” Nero said in a tone that came a little stuttered for the way Vergil was rhythmically pumping his cock. “Hey, how does it feel?”

Vergil raised an eyebrow, talking in a voice that sounded more composed than his own despite having Nero’s hand tightly wrapped around him.

“Are you in need of some validation?”

Nero rolled his eyes.

“Nah, I’m just curious to know if doing _this_ feels the same than in your memories.”

Vergil stopped stroking him, causing him to stop as well.

“Pretty much the same, yes.” Vergil suddenly tensed. “I assume it feels quite different for you.”

Vergil was even more prone to overthink than V had been, and Nero knew it, so he decided to eradicate any doubts that his father could have come up with by talking with a confident tone.

“Yeah, of course there are differences. For example,” Nero slid the side of his index down Vergil’s erect member, making this one tremble, “this is bigger. _You_ are bigger in general. But physical changes aside, it feels the same.” Nero leaned forward to mimic Vergil’s previous gesture of nipping his ear. “Just as damn good.”

His ego was ready for when Vergil snorted at his poor attempt of seduction, since unlike Vergil he was a newbie in that department. However, the way Vergil attacked his mouth next told Nero that, at least, his argument had somehow convinced him, so it was something.

With their mouths still connected, Nero helped Vergil remove his shirt, sliding the clothing down Vergil’s arms as his father rolled back his shoulders to make the task easier. Nero was about to enclose his arms around Vergil’s body, curious to see how it would feel to grope a muscular back for a change, when his father talked.

“Do you have supplies?”

“Yeah, in the suitcase.”

Nero went for them while Vergil sat on the edge of the bed to start untying his boots. He had removed the right one when Nero threw a bottle of lube and a box of condoms to the mattress.

“Damn, I just realized how many belts they have. They don’t look very comfy.”

He sighed, proceeding to remove his other boot while Nero finished getting rid of the rest of his clothes.

“Your fashion sense has always left to be desired.”

“Yeah, or maybe you worry about your looks too much.”

Vergil left his left boot next to the other at the bed feet in an orderly way. In other circumstances he would have taken his time in explaining why his footwear was way more appropriate than the one the boy used to wear, but at that moment Nero crawled into his lap to resume their making out, which made Vergil to postpone that lesson for a future.

The same as it happened before, Vergil reverted their position when his back was about to touch the bed, causing Nero to end lying against the mattress instead. Vergil’s mouth followed the opposite path that Nero chose before. His tongue flickered across the boy’s torso while his hands took a grasp of Nero’s ass. He massaged the zone, making Nero breathe a curse while grasping the bedsheets. The boy’s legs parted on either side of Vergil when this one continued lowering down until his mouth ended quite close to Nero’s curved member.

He just breathed over it, his gaze dragging upwards to see Nero leaning back against his forearms. He had time to see the boy’s expression of anticipation turning into a frustrated one when realizing Vergil didn’t plan to orally please him yet.

“Shit, and you said you didn’t want it slow? Because I’m gonna turn old at this rate— _shit_!”

For the way Nero’s head shot backwards in a surprised groan, he wasn’t expecting the way Vergil’s index and middle finger started to press inside his entrance.

“Fuck.” Nero exhaled, flexing his legs to start bucking back against the intrusion more easily. “I brought lube for a reason, you bastard.”

“I’ve seen it,” Vergil commented, his eyes never leaving Nero’s face when he spread his fingers, surprised for not seeing any sign of discomfort. “And I’ve noticed it’s almost empty, and that you’re offering no resistance.” A small smirk appeared in his face. “Could it be that you’ve been feeling lonely during these weeks, Nero?”

The faint blush that appeared in Nero’s face together with his stubbornly clenched jaw confirmed Vergil’s suspicions. Vergil hummed with amusement, kneeling between Nero’s legs while continuing fingering him at a leisure rhythm.

“Tell me, boy. Did you think about me while pleasuring yourself like _this_?”

He accompanied his words by grabbing the boy’s member with his left hand to start pumping it in time with his languid thrusts, causing Nero to flop back against the bed with a keening groan.

“Damn, you’re such a bastard.” Nero snapped when Vergil continued working him open but way too slowly, always avoiding that spot for sure on purpose to make him speak. “Shit, yeah, I thought about you while fucking myself. You happy now?”

He was about to insult Vergil when this one grinned, satisfied with the piece of information. Nero was about to threaten Vergil with finishing on his own if it kept taking him so much time to fuck him when Vergil’s fingers pushed in again, rewarding him with a precise rub against his prostate.

“ _Fuck_!” His body arched for a moment at the awesome sensation, his fingers clutching at the sheets again.

“Good boy, saying the truth like that.” Vergil teased, adding a third digit in order to stretch him wider.

“ _Yeah_.” Nero had to grit his teeth this time to avoid moaning as Vergil continued finger-fucking him, the sensation around his member growing stronger and faster too. “Oh shit... _Damn_ , keep going, dad.”

It took him a moment to understand why Vergil had stopped, and tensed when realizing the reason.

“Sorry. It slipped” He blurted out, hoping not having ruined everything.

Vergil observed him for a moment before placing both of his hands on the mattress on either side of his body.

“Well, you are indeed my son, so it is not an inaccurate term.” Nero to feel a wave of relief, just before tensing again when Vergil’s eyes glinted with amusement. “And I guess it is not the worst kink I have heard about.”

Nero glared at Vergil.

“It’s _not_ a kink.”

“Shall I presume then that you do not wish to call me ‘daddy’ while we are doing it?”

“HELL _no!_ ”

“Nero, there is no reason to be embarrassed. In case you are truly into that, I may be in the mood of indulging you if you ask nicely.”

“Shit, you’re such an asshole…”

Nero would’ve hit Vergil if at that moment his father hadn't chuckled, but the uncommon sight of the man looking so relaxed made him gulp and do something different instead, curious to see which other expressions Vergil could make besides his usual unreadable one.

He raised his face to kiss Vergil while his hands proceeded to pull down the trousers that he was still wearing. Vergil took the hint, briefly abandoning the bed to discard the rest of his garments. He was about to enter the bed again when Nero placed a hand against his middle stomach, stopping him.

“Sit down.” Vergil’s quirked up eyebrow made Nero realize too late that his choice of words hadn’t been the most fortunate. “Please.”

The reluctance that Vergil was still feeling while taking a seat in the edge of the bed was replaced by surprise when Nero positioned himself between his parted legs.

“I thought you didn’t kneel for anyone,” Vergil commented with a provoking tone, keeping his right hand on the base of his member to keep it erect in front of Nero.

Nero smirked at Vergil while placing his hands on Vergil’s naked legs. He had been prepared for that remark.

“And I’m not,” he retorted, staying in a squatting position before diving forward to give a long lick from the base of Vergil’s cock to the tip before accommodating it inside his mouth.

Vergil’s only answer when he began to bob his head was a long breath, but Nero knew that his father was more affected than he was letting show. He could feel the small jerks that traversed by the taut thighs under his fingers when his tongue rolled around the glans, always adding a sucking motion before taking him again.

Still, Nero was determined to make Vergil react, so he redoubled his efforts by hollowing his cheeks to add more pressure around Vergil’s member. Doing that seemed to do the trick, since Vergil’s mouth half-parted to let out a stuttered breath.

Nero's pulse raced while eying up at Vergil. His own cock hardened when the man bit his lower lip and closed his eyes after he started mouthing at his balls, sucking the sensitive flesh before returning his attention to the glans. He was about to swallow it again when his head was yanked backwards by Vergil’s left hand.

“You have got better at this.” Nero noted himself a win when Vergil’s voice sounded raspier, as if he had been refraining himself from groaning while he was sucking him off. “Have you practiced in some way?”

Nero deadpanned at Vergil for the stupidity of the question, and also for the threatening component he detected on it.

“I didn’t need to. There's something called the Internet.” Nero was about to laugh when Vergil’s face became a mask of impassibility. “Sorry, I forgot that you are from the old guard. But don’t worry, I can teach you how to use it.”

Nero felt a shiver down his spine when the allusion to his age caused Vergil’s right eyebrow to twitch. He was expecting to stir Vergil up like that, but it seemed that he would need to work harder for that to happen, since Vergil limited himself to slide backwards on the bed, dragging him back with him until he was sitting on his father’s lap again.

“Well, since you look so confident about your ability,” Nero’s breath caught in his throat when Vergil undulated his hips up once, sliding his erection between his buttocks, “I assume that you will be able to prove it with your performance.”

Nero felt both annoyed and aroused at the condescension in Vergil’s tone. He knew that the man was teasing him on purpose, in a more jerk way than V used to do, but being aware of it didn’t mean he wasn’t affected by it, as childish as it could be.

He leaned on his side to recover the lube while ignoring the box of condoms. He applied a good amount in Vergil’s cock, feeling proud when Vergil’s thighs spasmed a little under him for the rough treatment. He discarded the lube then, and without averting his eyes from Vergil’s ones, Nero raised his hips until feeling the lubed tip of Vergil’s cock nudging his entrance.

He liberated both of his spectral wings at that moment, making the most of Vergil’s surprise to place his human hands against Vergil’s chest. He pushed his father forcibly against the bed, making him lie back against the mattress. The remark that Vergil was going to let out ended in an intake of breath when Nero started lowering his body.

His eyes were about to close at the feeling of Vergil’s cock piercing through him, hot, thick and so much better than his fingers would ever feel, but he made sure to keep them open in order to stare at Vergil under him. His father’s eyebrows were pinched, his breathing controlled but heavy. Vergil didn’t let out a single noise during all the time it took Nero to accommodate him inside, so when Nero used his spectral wings to take a good grip of the headboard, his goal for that night was clear.

“I’m gonna make you moan my name, father.”

Vergil wasn’t expecting the savage pace that Nero built from the start.

His first impulse was to outpower Nero immediately, removing those hands that had him pinned against the mattress, but with the first blessed, breathless ‘ _Yeah_ ’ that escaped his son’s lips, Vergil decided that the sight taking place over him was one worthy to be enjoyed.

Nero was going wild on the top of him, riding him with a forcefulness that for sure he had never used with V before. Perhaps V’s fragility had made Nero hold himself back unconsciously, not wanting to risk to hurt the man. Right now, there was no restraint; no control. The boy’s extra limbs gripping the headboard provided him with a good leverage to bounce on him with eagerness, making the bed springs creak as the bed rattled against the wall.

The boy was letting himself go in a way that Vergil had never seen in his memories before.

It was an unique image; a beautiful one. One that made Vergil change his initial plan of punishing Nero for his previous comment by letting him do all the job.

Taking a good grip of Nero’s legs, Vergil started pushing his hips up, taking a more active role. He guided the rhythm so that it was slower but harder, and also the angle of Nero’s rides so that it was slightly different. The next thrust he delivered made Nero shout a curse while suffering a powerful shiver that shook his muscular body.

“God, fuck, _yes_!” Nero blasphemed, fingers digging on Vergil’s pectorals each time that his prostate was smacked in the thrusts that followed. “Yes...oh _yes_...god, feels so _good_... _Vergil_.”

Nero being so vocal was erotic enough already, but that last desperate call of his name made Vergil’s member throb dangerously.

Summoning his self-control to push away his own urge of coming, he grabbed Nero’s wrists to remove them from his chest. He re-emerged into a sitting position, both of his hands grasping Nero’s backside again to have a better support to pound into the boy with equal force.

Nero may have been determined to force his name out of his lips, but it was Vergil’s the one that never ceased to fall from the boy’s mouth from then on. 

At some point Nero’s strong arms enclosed around his shoulders, nails digging in his shoulder blades. The sting that such an action produced and the tightening of Nero’s walls around him forced Vergil to sink his teeth on Nero’s neck to suppress the urge of groaning too loud.

Nero exhaled a pained whine. One of his hands tangled in the back of his hair, Vergil thought to push him away, but it was just the opposite. Nero tilted his neck more, exposing himself to him, and he didn’t hesitate in accepting the tempting invitation by lapping the teeth mark he had left there. He felt Nero’s member, sandwiched between them, leaking more against his abs, so he reached for it, stroking it with a rhythm that made Nero shudder powerfully.

“O-Oh no.” Nero’s sudden worried tone made Vergil abandon the boy’s now marked neck to look at him with lust hazed eyes. “Fuck, fuck, _fuck_ , I think I’m gonna—”

‘ _Trigger_ ’ Vergil completed in his head, seeing how Nero’s pupils turned yellow as his irises got thinner and more vertical.

If Nero believed that transforming would make him slow down, he was mistaken. With an excited growl that this time he didn’t bother to hold back, Vergil lunged forward in order to tackle Nero against the bed.

“Hey!” Nero exclaimed when Vergil grabbed the back of his knees to open his legs, pushing inside him again. “Damn, dad, you have to stop or I’ll—”

“Do it.” Vergil’s command made Nero’s demonic eyes open more. “Unleash your true form. There is no need for you to hold back anymore, child. So do _not_ dare to do so with me.”

A new string of aroused curses mixed with urgent _Yes_ ’ escaped Nero when Vergil started to pound inside him with renewed strength, fucking him against the sheets in a brutal, feral way that he had never experienced before, but that he would always crave from then on.

Nero’s spectral wings grabbed the edge of the bed with force, tearing the fabric after Vergil’s right hand wrapped once again around his leaking cock.

His human hands enclosed around Vergil, making the last release his leg to lean his forearm next to his head instead. Their sweated chests dragged together now with each passionate thrust. He dug his nails on Vergil’s back when his father bit the unmarked side of his neck. He also wrapped his legs around Vergil’s lower back, using his spectral arms to rock back against Vergil while tightening around him, making that the strained growls that Vergil was exhaling against his abused skin became more frequent.

The raw pleasure Nero was drowning in made him forget everything that wasn’t the feeling of Vergil moving inside him. He stopped worrying about triggering, about hurting Vergil when his nails started to swift into claws and his skin acquired scales, about _anything_ that wasn’t them, moving together while seeking their respective liberations.

The orgasm that hit him was the most intense and most explosive he had ever experienced. Literally. He triggered while doing so, growling Vergil’s name in his distorted, demonic voice. The explosion of energy that his transformation created broke the crystals of the room and fused the lights of the office, but neither Vergil nor him paid attention to it.

Still in his triggered form, Nero observed Vergil reach his peak seconds later with a final snap of his hips. As usual, Vergil came in a more calmed way than him, but the way his father _finally_ hissed his name with his eyes half-lidded when Nero’s walls quivered around his member made Nero feel satisfaction invading him.

They spent some seconds basking in the sex afterglow, with Nero heavily breathing while returning to his human form and Vergil’s weight pressed against him. A breeze coming from his right made Nero turn his head towards the window, his eyes opening wide when seeing the state of it.

“Oh, s _hit_ , Dante’s gonna kill us.”

“Well, he will only try and fail, as usual.”

Vergil’s confident tone made Nero exhale a breathless laugh before looking up at the man. They interchanged a silent look before Vergil tentatively started to lean down. Nero removed the distance between them to initiate a slow kiss that was way more calmed than all the previous they had shared, more similar to the ones Nero used to give V after satiating their sexual needs.

“I almost forgot something.” Nero said, causing Vergil to frown with confusion when he abandoned the bed. He made a grimace, noticing too late Vergil’s release slipping from him and sliding down the back of his thighs.

“Besides cleaning, you mean?”

Nero threw the box of tissues he had recovered from his suitcase at Vergil’s face when hearing his ironic remark, showing the man his middle finger when this one caught it in the air with an arrogant grin.

He made a quick visit to the adjacent bathroom to clean himself and wash his hands before returning to the room. Vergil was already under the sheets, lying on his left forearm with a light impatient expression on his face that disappeared when Nero joined him after recovering a pair of objects from the opened suitcase.

“These are yours.” Nero handed Vergil the poetry book and the small [plushie](https://youtu.be/A0jko6UlCVA?t=21) he once gifted V.

It took Vergil a moment to accept the objects.

“As far as I recall, I only told you to hold onto the book.”

“Yeah, but I know that deep inside you also like this little guy.” Nero was expecting some kind of protest coming from Vergil, so when the man remained unusually quiet, he frowned. “Something wrong?”

Vergil’s eyes were fixed on the objects when talking with a calculated calm tone.

“Do you miss him?” Nero looked at Vergil without understanding. “V.”

Nero frowned.

“Why should I? He’s in you and you’re here, so I would be stupid by missing something I already have.”

Vergil relaxed at that, looking at Nero with a hint of a half-amused smile in his lips.

"So you think you have me?"

Nero half-closed his eyes when hearing Vergil's ironic tone.

"Yeah, I _know_ I do." He leaned forward to hook his hand on the back of Vergil’s neck. "You said so, and I’m not letting you take it back. And if you don't like it now, then be ready to fight me for it."

Nero kissed Vergil hard, managing to lead for almost 5 seconds until Vergil took control. Well, he was improving at least. Maybe he soon could dominate a complete kiss.

“Oh, I plan to fight you.” Vergil said once they separated. “And as I said, I don’t plan to lose this time.”

“Yeah, well, we’ll see about that.” Nero’s eyes focused on the poetry book when Vergil started to look through it. “You know, there’s something I kind of miss about V.”

Vergil looked at him with curiosity, apparently understanding what he meant when seeing the smile that Nero had in his face while looking at the book.

“I see.” His father merely commented.

A nostalgic silence fell between them before Nero broke it.

“How did they leave? I mean, did you get to say goodbye?”

Vergil shook his head.

“No, but Dante told me about their confrontation.” Nero frowned with confusion before Vergil continued. “He said they stepped in his way to gain me some time, and that their battle was one of the most difficult he ever had.”

Nero nodded.

“So they fought for you until the end.” He laughed, placing his hands on the bruised sides of his neck while leaning his elbows on his flexed knees. “I bet that that chicken ran his mouth to the very end.”

The ghost of a smile appeared in Vergil’s face.

“According to Dante, he did.”

The new comfortable silence that fell was broken by Vergil when this one sighed and left the book on the nightstand, keeping the plushie with him.

“So? You're gonna keep it? Or will it be a too big blow to your badassness?”

Vergil clicked his tongue, but Nero’s smile widened when the man also left the toy on top of the poetry book.

“If it means so much for you that I keep it, I guess I can indulge you.”

Nero rolled his eyes, enclosing his arms around his legs.

“Hey, if you don’t want it, I know some children that will gladly adopt it. They went all crazy when seeing it and I had to hide it so that they didn’t—”

‘ _CRAP_ ’, was the word that appeared in Nero’s mind when slowly, _too_ slowly, Vergil turned his head to look at him. Damn, that’s what happened for lowering his guard after the mind-blowing sex they had enjoyed.

“So, you _did_ go to Fortuna.” Nero gulped, feeling a new shiver - cold, of the bad kind - run down his spine when Vergil raised his chin a little with his eyes half-closed. “Shall I presume _that_ was the place you and Nico were before coming here?”

Nero cleared his throat, raising his hands in front of him in a placatory Dante-like way when feeling a murderous aura surrounding Vergil’s.

“Look, I was only passing through, okay? Fortuna was the place I was gonna investigate next and I wasn’t going to sleep in a hotel when I already had somewhere to stay! And I mean, I know you don’t get along with Kyrie, but she’s still my friend! So can't you try to get into my shoes for a minute and—?”

Nero’s eyes opened more when Vergil disappeared in a blurry blue aura, just to appear two seconds later standing next to the bed, still naked but with Yamato in hand.

“For being you, I’ll be merciful and I will concede you three seconds to retrieve your sword.”

Nero blinked in an astonished state.

“Are you kidding me?” He exhaled an incredulous laugh. “This is a joke, right? I mean, there’s _no way_ you’re really planning to fight me when we’ve just—”

“ _Three_ …”

Nero hurriedly abandoned the bed, being about to fall flat on the floor when his feet got stuck with the sheet. He managed to grab Red Queen and swirl his body around in time to stop Vergil’s attack, and his heart raced when seeing Vergil’s eyes shining in the same way as they did when they both fought on the top of the Qliphoth.

At the end, it seemed that Dante’s office was gonna get some more damage than a couple of windows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry: Nero survived the fight and they made up with a couple of rounds more of sex :P (that I will probably write in a one-shot).  
> Just the epilogue to go!! :')


	25. Epilogue

“Alright, I think that these ladies have had enough to drink already, so I’m taking them home.”

“Haaah!? What are you saying, Morrison!? I’m peeerrrfectly okay!”

“Yeah, dude, who do you think you’re, our dad?! Well, noo, sir: I only have ooone daddy and he’s an asshole who’s dead and buried, thankyouverymuch.”

“Hey hey hey, there’s another toast to make right there!”

“Ohoho, you right, girl! Let’s drink for our asshole daddies!!”

Dante bit back a chuckle when Morrison exhaled a resigned sigh after Lady and Nico clashed their beers so hard that the liquid spilled over the floor. The old man waited for the women to finish their toast before changing tactics, telling them that he was going to drive them to another bar to keep celebrating. It was a blatant lie, but the ladies were too intoxicated to notice it.

They abandoned the room, fighting to see who was going to drive the van even if Morrison had been carrying the keys for a while now, concretely six beers ago.

“So, time to play chauffeur,” Morrison said in a patient tone, stopping in front of him. “I’ll call you tomorrow. I’ve got some jobs you’ll wanna check.”

Dante hummed, reclining back against the sofa with his legs crossed.

“Well, I’m not so sure about that. I still have to forgive you for having sold my ass, remember?”

Morrison chuckled.

“Sorry, but like the Samaritan I am, I only helped a kid find his family again, so I’ve got nothing to apologize for.”

Dante snorted, but he was smiling when Morrison brought his hand to his hat in a goodbye gesture that he returned by approaching his index and forefinger to his forehead.

When Morrison started walking towards the door, Dante’s eyes travelled towards the guest room where Vergil and Nero had for sure teleported around 5 minutes ago to ‘solve their differences’. He exhaled a sigh, hearing the office bell in the background when this one announced someone else had entered.

“Oh my, Lady and Nico were _so_ wasted. They thought the van’s toilet was a phone booth and scared me to death by entering without warning.”

A small smile escaped Dante when hearing Trish’s protests.

“Well, I don’t wanna be a jerk, love, but you ain’t better when you drink.”

“Oh, I know, but I remind you it’s been years since the last time I got _that_ drunk,” Trish replied, taking a seat next to him on the sofa. “And we’re getting older. Nico may be in her right to do crazy stuff, but Lady is reaching an age already.”

Dante was about to comment that maybe her catfights with Lady weren’t the most mature behavior when he heard Nero cursing from the second floor in a breathless voice that showed that, whatever was happening, he was enjoying it.

He took a deep breath, telling himself he was cool about it. At least, that was the impression he wanted to give, but Trish and he had known each other for fifteen years. He couldn’t trick her so easily.

“How are you holding up?”

Dante’s plan of using humor to dismiss the importance of the question was discarded when hearing the woman’s light concerned tone, making him choose complete sincerity for once.

“Better than expected.” He drank his beer and passed the bottle to Trish so that she did the same. “Although now I’m thinking that lending them the guest room maybe wasn’t the best idea ever.”

Trish took a sip and returned the bottle to him, crossing her arms next.

“Yes, it was a very dumb move.” A warm smile appeared in the woman’s face. “One that proves you’re a good man.”

Dante snorted, shaking his head.

“No, I’m not.”

He stopped leaning against the sofa to lean his elbows on his knees, while remembering all the times he had fantasized with the idea of Nero coming back to his fiancée and not showing up after deciding that dating Vergil was too complicated, giving him free rein to try to have Vergil in the way he wanted.

He knew it had just been wishful thinking. He may not have interacted with his nephew much, but he had seen enough during that father and son battle to realize that the boy’s feelings for Vergil were powerful, almost rivaling his own. Not to mention that the boy was a Sparda; not giving up easily was imprinted in his blood, so that month and half Vergil chose to disappear with him wouldn’t be enough to change how Nero felt.

Yeah, Dante had known that, and also that letting his hopes up was stupid, but he had never shined for his brilliance. And besides, there was no charge for dreaming! Or more accurately, there was no _monetary_ charge, because that tightness that had appeared in his chest when seeing Nero and Vergil eating at each other’s faces after he gave Nero the idea of tackling his brother to the sofa...Well, it ain’t been funny. And knowing what Vergil and Nero were doing up there was _even_ less funny.

At that moment another muffled curse sounded upstairs, though Dante didn’t have time to feel not-very-well for it since Trish tapped his thigh twice.

“Come on. Let's go.”

Dante frowned, his eyes following the woman when she stood up.

“Where?”

“To my apartment. ‘The night is young’ you said, right?”

Dante blinked in surprise before chuckling.

“What, you offering me pity sex? Because you know I’d _never_ say no to that, sweetheart.”

At any other moment such a flirty comment would have gained him a hit, but Trish simply smiled at him.

“I’m offering you the option to talk if you need to, and also an alternative place to stay the night.” The woman offered him a hand. “What do you say?”

Dante exhaled a deep sigh, his eyes stopping now on Yamato leaning against the wall, next to his own sword.

He smiled, remembering the small sparring he and Vergil had shared just before the others’ surprise visit.

Well, with a little luck, it was only a matter of time until everything felt right again. After all, he was Dante Sparda, the Legendary Demon Hunter who had survived tons of dangers and come alive from impossible life-or-deaths situations, so a broken heart was nothing to overcome in comparison.

Besides, Vergil may not be his in the way he wanted, but he was there, alive and kicking, and eager to fight him as many times as he wished. That was something. That was _so much more_ than he could have ever wished for a mere year ago. So, he’d make sure to appreciate what he had and not what was out of his reach, and never lose it ever again.

With renewed energy, Dante finished what remained of his beer before leaving it on the table with a loud ‘clonk’.

“I say it sounds like a plan.”

He took Trish’s hand and stood up with the woman’s help. They had started walking towards the door when he enclosed his arm around the woman’s shoulders, adopting a casual tone before talking next.

“By the way, Trish.”

“Yes?”

“About that pity sex...”

Predictably, Trish rolled her eyes when he left the sentence hanging, but he was surprised when instead of pushing him aside, she enclosed an arm around his waist.

“We’ll see about that.”

The excited ‘ _Yes!_ ’ that Dante let out while fisting his hand in triumph gained him a painful, deserved jab at his ribs.

* * *

A lightning put an end to Vergil’s sleep, making him wake up with a low gasp, ending in a sitting position.

It wasn’t the first time that he was woken up in the middle of the night after hearing an outer noise, a remnant of all those past years when he was forced to sleep with an eye opened, always ready to stand, sword in hand, to face any demon ambushes that could take place.

This time, his confusion was even more pronounced after feeling a presence next to him, though the tension that invaded Vergil vanished when recognizing Nero’s sleeping form.

The boy was facing down on the bed, arms flexed and buried under the pillow and face turned to Vergil’s side. Vergil didn’t understand how the boy could be comfortable in that position, but his breathing was even and calm, proving he was deeply asleep.

Vergil observed the boy for a moment before taking a deep breath, retiring the sheets from his legs. He stepped down the bed, the creaking sound of the abused springs not alerting Nero in the least. Despite the summer storm hitting outside, there was humidity in the room, so he only recovered his pajama pants from the chair and put them on before abandoning the room in the direction of the bathroom.

He tried to turn the lights on before remembering that Nero’s devil trigger had fused them. It had been quite a sight, seeing his son in his demonic form coming undone under him. It was a view he would make sure to enjoy again, perhaps while being in his triggered form too, though he would need to find out if Nero felt comfortable with such an idea first.

He had been about to bend down to drink from the wash basin, deciding that it was better to avoid the destroyed office covered in glass downstairs, when the last thought made him stop.

Up till then, he hadn’t cared too much about what his one-stand partners preferred or not. He had never been the kind of person who forced his way into people, but his pleasure had always taken priority over his partners one.

With Nero, it was different. In fact, with Nero it was just the opposite. He had enjoyed being pleasured by Nero, but giving back all that pleasure, feeling the boy shivering in his arms, making his son come while calling his name in such a desperate, breathless voice, it had felt good. It had felt _better_ than coming, no matter how pleasant an orgasm could feel.

Making Nero feel good made him feel good, and that was something Vergil would have never expected to feel with someone else. The importance that Nero held now in his life was something that he still had to fully assimilate. Probably, it was something that would keep surprising him from time to time, even scaring him.

Vergil took a deep breath, trying to calm down the sudden pressure that appeared in his chest. He was about to wash his face to try to collect himself when his eyes were dragged to the small mirror placed over the wash basin.

His eyes opened wide when seeing something that was not his reflection.

Urizen and V were there, as if he was looking through a window and he had caught a glimpse of them being outside. Both of them were standing, keeping some distance between them. V was carrying that cane who had eventually become his indispensable support, but didn't look as if he needed it anymore; Urizen was displaying the last form he adopted after consuming the Qliphoth fruit, looking massively big compared to V, but oozing calm instead of danger.

Vergil found himself gulping. As impossible as it could seem, he knew that what he was seeing wasn’t a dream. And somehow, he understood why he was witnessing it.

He looked at Urizen first, the half who gave him enough strength to survive when he was in the brink of death; he looked at V, the half who he believed useless, but who helped him find what he never allowed himself to seek; and finally, he looked at them both, at the two halves that made him be who he was, and thanks to whom he could be standing right there and then.

“Thank you.”

Urizen simply nodded at his sincere whispered words, while the corners of V’s lips curved upwards in a genuine smile. V then raised his left hand and snapped his fingers, his tattoos fading to invoke one more time, a last time, the three familiars without whom he wouldn’t have been able to come that far.

“ _Oi, you better tell Dante that he only won because we let him!_ ” Griffon squawked, his voice loud and clear in his head despite the apparent distance that was between them. “ _And also make sure not to let that stubborn kid go, and neither to run away from happiness ‘cause you’re a big scaredy-cat that’s afraid of losing it, okay!?_ ”

Vergil would have clicked his tongue if his throat wasn’t feeling just a little tight, after seeing Shadow nod and Nightmare growl softly in agreement to that loud bird’s words.

“ _I guess I have nothing else to add,_ ” V said with amusement, throwing then a look towards Urizen. “ _What about you?_ ”

Urizen clicked the tongue in the way Vergil would have liked to do, turning around to leave. The demon’s silent answer made V smirk after Griffon muttered a playful ‘ _Aww, the big guy is the shy type!_ ’. The invoker turned towards Vergil once again. He nodded towards him with the same solemnity Urizen had showed before, and then started walking after the former Demon King together with his familiars, joining him inside a darkness that, somehow, felt calm instead of ominous.

“Hey, you okay?”

Nero’s sudden question startled Vergil, though that only manifested in a missed beat. He turned around to look behind him. Nero was at the door, leaning against the frame with his arms crossed and just his underwear on, displaying a confused expression on his face.

Vergil observed at Nero for a moment before looking back at the mirror. There was just his reflection there, as it was supposed to be, but Vergil knew that the previous vision had been real.

It was the only way to explain why that pressure that had been about to settle in his chest was completely gone, replaced by a strange feeling of peace that he wasn’t used to experience.

* * *

“Yes.”

Nero brought his chin slightly forward, expecting a more detailed answer that explained why his father was staring at himself at the mirror at 3:35 a.m., because not even him could be as conceited. However, when it was obvious that Vergil wasn’t planning to add anything, and after not detecting any kind of negative aura coming from his father, Nero simply shrugged, too tired to force answers out of the man because he knew how troublesome that could be.

“Okay, whatever.” He yawned loudly while separating from the frame. “I’ll be on the bed while you finish whatever you are doing.”

A new yawn escaped him before entering the bed. He lay by leaning on his right side, a habit from when he was ashamed of the limb he had lost because of his weakness and preferred to hide it from view.

He was about to fall asleep again when he felt the bed bending a little, but his eyes snapped open again when he felt Vergil’s naked chest pressing against his back and a strong arm enclosing around his waist.

“What?” Vergil inquired, his father’s tone impatient after seeing the astonished look Nero threw at him over his shoulder.

“Nothing. It’s just that you didn’t strike me as the cuddling type.”

Vergil clicked his tongue, resting his head on the pillow.

“If you feel uncomfortable, you can always try to set yourself free.”

At any other moment, Nero would have suggested changing positions so that he was the big spoon, wanting to see the outraged face Vergil would make. However, Nero suspected what the result of teasing Vergil like that would be, and that night they had had enough fighting, and definitely enough sex after the two extra rounds than ensued their first post-coital argument.

So, Nero chose to gladly accept the role of little spoon and accommodated on the bed, pressing himself back against Vergil to feel his father's skin against his own before talking.

“I won’t.” He yawned again, the next words naturally escaping him. “I’m just where I wanna be.”

Again, he was about to fall asleep. And again, he was brought out of his slumber when Vergil deposited an unexpected kiss on the back of his head, doing the same that Nero had done with V every time they went to sleep in that position, but with their roles reversed.

“Goodnight, son.”

Nero smiled happily and placed his hand on the top of Vergil’s settled across his stomach.

“Goodnight, dad.”

Before finally falling asleep, Nero felt that despite Vergil’s love for personal space and despite the heat of July slipping inside the room, they would be in that exact same position when they woke up.

His hunch turned out to be right.

**_End of the Second Part_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with this, the second part of the Blood is Thicker than Water series is over! ^^
> 
> In theory, my initial plan was to finish the series with this fic, since it has a rather close ending for Vergil and Nero. However, when I reached chapter 10 and I wrote Dante after a loong time, I began to crave including him in the series somehow. So, I have outlined a third part to include him in the Sparda relationship, which I will proceed to write after updating some Nero/Vergil one-shots taking place after this fic :)
> 
> So, that's all for now :P Thank you SO MUCH to all the ones who have read/commented/given kudos to this story!! <3 <3 <3 I've had a lot of fun writing it, and I hope to see you in the next installement of the series <3 :)


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